Tick Tock
by Sword-of-Shadows
Summary: Young Lovino has always been overshadowed by his brother. So, when a man offers to take him somewhere just for him, he accepts. But this new world isn't as kind as he first thought. Now, an adult Lovino must face his past and see the nightmare it's become
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

Yes, another plot bunny has taken refuge in my mind AND THIS ONE I SHALL FINISH! *determination*

...Anyway, this was supposed to be dark and creepy (because the song that inspired it (Tick Tock by Nina Söderquist) has that creepy-awesome vibe to it) buuut throught the inspiration of other songs... creepiness was lost.

So: this contains EVENTUAL Spamano, but there's kinda light shota at the beginning... and other parts... sorry...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hetalia or any of the songs that inspired this~

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><p>(Lovino Vargas - 8 years old)<p>

The green eyed shadow watched the little boy sleep and sighed, resting his oily-black chin on equally black hands, elbows resting on the windowsill. The tiny brunette looked so peaceful when he slept. So vulnerable… and so cute~!  
>His (because he had claimed the boy (he did not know his name) as his own) little boy grunted in his sleep and turned to face the open window, letting his secret audience see his angelic face. The shadow almost laughed, but thought better of it, trying to stay silent. The boy was only this sweet and silent when he was sleeping. The shadow knew (from watching the boy for a while now) that when he was awake, the boy was fiery, passionate, and stubborn as a bull. He was the shadow's fiery little Roman warrior, his Romanito. Really, now that he thought about it, perhaps that was what attracted him to the boy in the first place.<br>The shadow was about to let himself into the room, but hesitated as his child turned away from him again. He had never entered the room while the boy was there before, choosing to watch his child from a distance, lest he scare him away before getting close enough.  
>As the small child started to whimper in his sleep, the shadow could feel his heart breaking and he crawled silently through the window and onto the boy's bed, curling himself protectively around the smaller body. His boy snuggled into the new source of warmth and tried to clutch at the oily blackness that was the shadow. "M-mama!" he cried, "Mama, don't leave!" The shadow held him closer. His poor abandoned child! Who would leave such an angel?<br>The shadow tilted the boy's face up to his. "I am here, mi querido, nothing can hurt you," he breathed onto his child's lips, carefully fitting is own onto them and relishing in the sweetness that the little human possessed. One of his hands combed through light chocolate hair and toyed lightly with the one unruly curl that the shadow found adorable.  
>The boy whimpered at the contact, a dark blush making its way across his chubby cheeks, but he did not struggle or awaken, much to the shadow's delight. He slowly pulled away, still running a loving hand through the boy's hair, and smiling at the cute blush that erupted on his child's face as he toyed with the curl.<br>Outside, the sun was beginning to rise, signaling that the shadow had to leave. The green eyed creature placed one last kiss on his Romanito's forehead. "Good night, mi Romanito, sweet dreams," he cooed lovingly before slipping back out the window to wait for his child to awaken.  
>'Romanito' slept on, unaware that his nightly visitor had come and gone.<p>

"God damn that boy!" the servant cursed angrily as he picked up the shards of another broken vase. "If he wasn't the master's grandson, I'd see that he was sent to work in the factories, where he belongs!"  
>"Now, don't be so harsh on the Young Master!" Alice, the kind, Belgian maid said, helping the servant, her older brother, clean. "Lovino means well, he's just clumsy! He doesn't try to make more work for us."<br>"Honestly, Alice, I don't see why you protect him so much," Lars sighed. "He's just a troublemaker. If he was more like his brother, then maybe he would have more of an excuse for his rude behavior."  
>"If he was any more like his brother, we'd have a whole new list of problems," Alice huffed, disposing of the last of the broken vase. "But it wouldn't hurt for him to be more carful, would it?" she admitted.<br>"Not at all," Lars agreed and bid Alice farewell, disappearing down the corridor.  
>Alice sighed and fixed her skirt before hurrying into the gardens to try and locate the Young Master. He was always getting into trouble and then running off to avoid… well, everything. He didn't seem to enjoy anyone's company, choosing to get himself lost in the gardens for hours on end. The poor kid always seemed so lonely!<br>"Master Lovino!" Alice called as she walked down one of the many twisting paths in the gardens, hoping that he wasn't too far away. The gardens at Master Vargas' manor were a labyrinth of twists and turns, making it very easy to get lost. To make it worse, there were many dangers in the gardens as well. Many horrible stories had been made by people in the village and even servants in the manor itself about hideous monsters leading children into the gardens to never be heard from again. "Master Lovino, please come out!"

Lovino was sulking in between the tomato vines in one of the more accessible parts of the garden, glaring at nothing. It was barely noon and the day already sucked ass for him. He pulled his knees to his chest as he remembered his grandfather cooing over how cute his little brother was. "Little Feli, you are just so cute!" the older man had laughed, holding the toddler close. "Your brother should take lessons from you! You could teach him how to be cute for his grandfather~" he hadn't even seen Lovino in the room with them!  
>Lovino tightly closed his eyes against furious tears. It wasn't fair! Just because Feliciano was cuter and more obedient and less clumsy didn't mean that his Nonno could show so much favoritism! Lovino was there, too, dammit! Although, maybe he should be used to it by now. Ever since his mother died and his father left, Feli had always been put first.<br>In the distance, he could hear Alice calling for him, but he ignored her. Why bother returning to the manor when nobody would care if he was there or not?  
>"Chiquito, why are you crying?" the concerned voice of a young man asked from in front of him. Lovino tensed. He hadn't heard any footsteps…<br>He slowly lifted his head to see a spotted brown and white cat staring at him from the tomato vines. Its emerald eyes watched him curiously and as it tilted its head, the sun glinted off of a small silver cross around its neck. Lovino blinked at it. Cats don't talk, right?  
>He looked at the garden around him and found that the only other living creature with him was that cat… that was staring at him creepily.<br>"What the hell do you want, cat?" Lovino growled, glaring at the cat.  
>"Mrow," the cat purred and slowly crawled out of the vines to sit in front of the boy. When Lovino didn't come any closer to him, the cat took it upon himself to jump into the Italian's lap and make himself comfortable.<br>Lovino yelped and tried to dislodge the cat, but the feline wouldn't have it, gently digging his little claws into Lovino's pant leg. Lovino huffed and fell onto his back in defeat. "Damn cat… what the hell? You just want to use me as a bed?"  
>"Mrow."<br>"That's not an answer, you know."  
>"Mrow!"<br>Lovino almost laughed. "I'm pathetic! I'm so lonely; I'm talking to a cat!"  
>"Mew…" the cat huffed, as if he could actually understand the boy. Really, the cat was just happy that the boy wasn't crying anymore.<br>The two lay there in silence for a few minutes; Lovino finding pictures in the clouds and the cat napping on his stomach. Lovino didn't feel lonely anymore, either. Sure, it was a cat, but it liked listening to his ranting at least…  
>Although, the cat's eyes kind of scared him a bit. They seemed more human than animal.<br>"Master Lovino!" a girl's voice broke the comfortable silence that had engulfed the two in the tomatoes. The cat hissed quietly at the interruption. "Master Lovino!" Alice sighed in relief at the sight of the boy. "Your grandfather was worried about you-"  
>"You and I both know that he wasn't," Lovino didn't look up at the maid. "Don't bother lying to me."<br>Alice sighed. "Well, I was worried about you! Who's that?" she asked, noticing the brown and white cat on Lovino's stomach. "Did you make a friend?"  
>Lovino sat up and stared at the cat on his lap, ignoring her questions. The cat didn't seem to like that and dug his claws into Lovino's stomach.<br>"Sss!" Lovino hissed in pain. "Pain!"  
>"Spain?" Alice laughed and helped the boy to his feet. "That's an odd name for a cat."<br>"That's not-" Lovino tried to explain, but the cat – Spain – was staring at him in a creepy way again. "…It's not weird, dammit."  
>"Well, okay then," Alice smiled. "I bet Spain's hungry. Why don't we go get some lunch?" Lovino's stomach growled, making the boy blush. "I guess you're hungry, too!"<br>Spain followed the humans out of the garden with his head held high. Step one was complete. He was close to Romanito.

One morning, Lovino opened his eyes to find himself nose to nose with Spain.  
>With a disarticulated yell, Lovino panicked and sent himself flying off the bed. Spain watched him from atop the bed, tail flicking with amusement. The boy was so cute!<br>"Bastard cat, you probably find that funny, don't you?" Lovino growled.  
>"Mrow~" Spain purred. 'Funny' wasn't the word he would use, but yes, it had been kind of amusing to watch.<br>Still grumbling about bastard cats, Lovino threw on simple clothes and walked down to the kitchen with Spain at his heels. Since he found the cat (or had the cat found him?) a few days ago, the stupid furry creature hadn't let Lovino out of his sight. Really, Lovino found it annoying. But, although he would never admit it out loud, Lovino did enjoy the company.  
>Soon, Lovino marched contentedly down one of the long halls in Vargas Manor, his breakfast of bread in hand. As he walked, he dropped pieces for Spain, which the cat cheerfully ate. As far as Spain could tell, Lovino was a happy child… okay, maybe 'happy' wasn't the right word, but he wasn't depressed of lonely like his master had said…<br>Of course, Spain's thoughts on the boy changed as the two approached the door leading to Master Vargas' art studio. Unlike the other doors in the hall, this door was open, allowing light from an open window to fall into the hallway. A child's laugh and an older man's chuckle also found its way into the hall and into Spain and Lovino's ears.  
>Lovino tensed and walked more quietly, approaching the door with a scowl on his lips. Spain cocked his head in confusion and padded silently behind him. What made the boy so tense?<br>Spain peeked into the room and saw a boy, a smaller, smiley version of Lovino, sitting on an older man's lap, paintbrush in hand and working happily on a picture on a large piece of canvas in front of them.  
>"Feli, you're so cute!" the older man laughed, hugging the boy, Feli, tight. Feliciano laughed and turned back to his picture. "Look how talented you are!" Romulus Vargas praised his grandson. "Maybe you can teach Lovino to be such a good painter!"<br>Lovino grunted unhappily, but his grandfather didn't seem to hear him. Feliciano paused in his painting, but just as quickly gave his grandfather a big smile and asked him for a new color of paint, as if nothing had happened.  
>Spain turned back to Lovino to find the boy running back down the hallway as fast as he could, not caring if someone heard him or not. Startled at how fast the boy was, Spain hurried after him, catching up to him when he reached the garden, once again hiding himself within the tomatoes.<br>"Stupid little brother," Lovino sniffed, petting Spain as the cat nudged his hand. "He's always making me look bad! Nonno likes him more… hell, everyone likes him more! It's always Feli this and Feli that. The only thing they ever have to say to me is 'be more like your brother'. It's not fucking fair!" he cried, hiding his face in his knees.  
>Spain nuzzled closer to the crying child, trying to comfort him as foot steps came closer to where Lovino hid. A shadow fell over him as whoever owned the footsteps came to a stop in front of him and crouched down. Spain slipped behind Lovino and hid in the tomato vines. Lovino lifted his head slowly as a gentle hand made itself comfortable in his hair, avoiding his curl almost like it knew what it was... "Mi Romanito, why are you crying again?" a young man's voice whispered comfortingly. Lovino flinched at the name; it was somehow familiar, but nobody called him that… and the voice was familiar, too…<br>He opened his eyes to look at a man with curly brown hair and green, so very green, eyes and a concerned, white smile. He didn't look to be any older than twenty five or something like that. His clothes seemed normal – a slightly dirty drawstring shirt, brown work pants and boots – except for a bright red jacket that pirates in storybooks would wear. "Why are you crying?" the man asked again.  
>"F-fuck off!" Lovino slapped the man's hand away. "J-just leave me alone."<br>"But you're obviously upset mi Romanito!" the man persisted, pulling the squirming buy into his lap. "Please tell me what's wrong?"  
>Lovino gave the man a wary look. He didn't know him, and didn't Nonno always tell him not to talk to strangers?<br>But it wasn't Nonno too busy with Feli to care about him, anyway? At least this man wanted to listen to him.  
>"Nonno and everyone only care about damn Feliciano," Lovino said bitterly, unconsciously leaning against the man's chest. "If I stayed out here forever, nobody would fucking care. Hell, they would probably be happy to get rid of me. All I do is screw up anyway."<br>The man rocked himself and Lovino back and forth slowly and soothingly. "What if I told you that I could bring you somewhere that you would always be wanted; a place made just for you however you would want it to be?"  
>"I'd think you were a crazy bastard," Lovino said truthfully, making the man's chest vibrate with kind laughter. "…Why?"<br>"Well," the man stopped rocking. "Do you trust me?"  
>"Of course not!" Lovino scowled. "I don't even know your name, dammit!"<br>"I'm Antonio, a friend," the man took Lovino's hand in his own and kissed it, making Lovino scowl. He wasn't a girl!  
>"And I'm-" Lovino tried to introduce himself, but the man cut him off.<br>"I already know you, mi Romanito."  
>"But that's not my name-"<br>"No, it's not, but it's what you are: my Romanito."  
>"Your Romanito?" Lovino said quietly, watching the man intertwine their fingers. He had never been anyone's anything before…<br>"Si," Antonio kissed his head, taking advantage of Lovino's distracting thoughts to press another kiss to the child's neck. "My Romanito. Do you trust me, then?"  
>Lovino hesitated, unconsciously exposing more of his neck for Antonio to kiss, letting out a small giggly breath at the tickling sensation the lips created. This man was strange, he shouldn't trust him, but then again, he felt safe and wanted in his arms. Perhaps… perhaps Antonio was the only one who actually cared about him…<br>"Si," Lovino nodded, pushing Antonio's face away from his neck as the kisses became wetter and more strange-feeling to the little boy. "Yes, I trust you…Antonio."  
>The green eyed man smiled against Lovino's neck. His precious boy was finally his.<br>Spain watched from the tomato vines, ears flat against his head. Master was not going to like this…

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><p><strong>AN:**

Okay, someone tell me if the format is screwed up on this, 'cause it looks odd as I type this Author's Note out...

So, should I continue it? Scrap it?

Tell me what you think! Your comments mean the world to me~

Ciao~!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

Wow, I didn't think that I'd get this up today, but look what kind of amazing things happen when you listen to Bad Apple on repeat for three hours! X3

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><p>"Mon ami, what has gotten you in such a good mood?" Francis asked from where he hung upside down from a tree branch, watching Antonio as he lazily plucked petals off of the wildflowers he lay in, kicking his feet in the air and humming to himself like a child in love.<br>"Hmm?" Antonio sat up and stared at his friend, about to explain himself, but Gilbert cut him off, his albino head popping up from the flowers a few feet away. He had been playing hide and seek with his pet bird for a while now, and the bird was winning.  
>"How un-awesome, Tonio!" Gilbert chided. "You didn't even tell him that you found a Host?"<br>"A Host?" Francis kicked himself down from the tree and made himself comfortable next to his friend. "Toni, why didn't I hear about this? What is she like? I bet she's beautiful~"  
>"W-well, 'she' isn't a 'she' per say…" Antonio mumbled.<br>"Oh, so it's a man then?" Francis raised an eyebrow in amusement.  
>"No, not yet…"<br>That confused the blonde. "…Not yet?"  
>"Well mi Romanito is still a child-"<br>Gilbert yelped and tackled his friend. "Tonio tell me you're lying, you un-awesome bastard!"  
>"Wh-what! Why? What's wrong?"<br>"A child is the Host?" France asked. "Mon ami, that is dangerous! For both you and the child."  
>Antonio frowned and pushed Gilbert off of him. "I can protect him! You know that I can. Nothing will go wrong!"<br>"You don't know that," Gilbert reminded him.  
>"Trust me, everything will be fine," Antonio assured him. "Plus, don't you think that this place would be amazing with a child's imagination? I mean, sure, this place is wonderful and all, but our last host has grown up. We need a fresh mind, and a child would make it interesting, no?"<br>Gilbert and Francis exchanged a look before Francis sighed in defeat. "Fine, we won't say anything more, but if something goes wrong, you're going to have to deal with Arthur alone, understand?"  
>Antonio shivered at the thought of the British warlock but nodded. "Si, I understand perfectly."<p>

"What the hell is a book gonna do?" Lovino huffed, his arms crossed over his chest and cheeks puffed out in cute disbelief. He and Antonio stood in the garden, and the older man was trying to give him a leather bound book. Branded on the cover was a lily and a carnation with their stems intertwined, but other than that, there was nothing to distinguish this book from the hundreds of empty notebooks in Nonno's study.  
>"Well, it's nothing on its own," Antonio admitted, "But with your help… well, can you keep a secret?"<br>A secret? Lovino nodded, eyes wide with childish curiosity that made Antonio struggle to keep from hugging him. "Yes, dammit, now tell me what the book does!"  
>Antonio laughed. "Si, si. With your help, the book can show you a world made just for you!"<br>Lovino frowned. "Like a storybook?" Was that all this was?  
>"No, not at all. It will really open up a whole different world! Isn't that cool?" Antonio said excitedly.<br>"How does it do that?" Lovino asked. It did sound pretty cool.  
>Antonio flipped through some of the blank pages and showed it to Lovino. "Can I see your hand?" he asked.<br>Lovino looked at him suspiciously but gave him his arm. Antonio took his wrist into his hand and held him tight, so that the boy couldn't get away.  
>Spain crept closer to the two, keeping close to the ground so he wouldn't be seen.<br>Lovino watched as Antonio's fingernails became long and sharp, like claws, and began to panic. The man in front of him seemed darker, his outline blurring and turning into a black smudge. "W-wait! I change my mind!"  
>"Ssh, it's okay," Antonio shushed him, digging his claws into the boy's wrist and drawing blood, making Lovino whimper and struggle. "We just need a little blood…"<br>Lovino watched as his blood ran down his wrist and pooled in his palm. He looked up into Antonio's face in scared confusion. Antonio didn't return his look, concentrating on placing Lovino's bloody palm onto the page. Immediately, the page began to glow an eerie green, like Antonio's eyes, Lovino noted. The wind seemed to pick up around the two of them and Antonio pulled Lovino close. "Hold on," he whispered and Lovino felt his gut clench as his feet left the ground. Colors swirled and mixed in front of his eyes and just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished, revealing a flower-filled meadow. At the bottom of the hill sat a forest and from somewhere within it, fireplace smoke curled into the air. At first, Lovino thought it was just another part of his grandfather's garden, until he realized that the whole world was white, like a child's coloring book waiting to be filled. There was no sun or moon, but there was light, and no wind blew through the trees.  
>"Where… where are we?" Lovino asked, staring in awe at the almost blinding whiteness. He knelt down to touch a black outlined flower. It felt real!<br>"This is your world," Antonio explained, picking Lovino up and balancing him on his hip, both to give the boy a better view of the area and to wrap up his bloody wrist.  
>"My world?"<br>"Si, it's all yours," Antonio nuzzled his cheek. "Whatever you want, it's yours."  
>Before Lovino could ask anything more, his stomach growled. Antonio laughed. "Let's get you some food first. I have some friends in the village, so we'll go there first, si?"<br>Lovino nodded and let himself be carried down the hill, too busy looking at the uncolored birds disappearing into the papery leaves of a nearby tree.

Spain followed them closely, refusing to lose the boy so quickly.

"Oi, Tonio, who's that with you?" a man ran up to them, and at first, Lovino thought that the people in this world had no color, either. Did that mean that he would lose his color, too?

But these thoughts stopped the moment he looked at the man's face. His red eyes seemed to see right through Lovino and a small yellow chick poked its way out from silvery locks. The boy whimpered in fright and hid his face from those bloody eyes.  
>Antonio laughed lovingly at Lovino's cuteness and gave him a small kiss on his chubby cheek. "Gil, this is Romano. Roma, say 'hello'."<br>"'llo bastard..." Lovino mumbled quietly. Why wouldn't Antonio call him by his real name?  
>"Language, Roma," Antonio scolded lightly.<br>Gilbert laughed, his hisses making Lovino even more wary of the strange man. "The boy's got fire; I like him." he gave Antonio a serious look. "Is this the boy you were talking about?"  
>Antonio nodded. "Si, isn't he cute~" he cooed and nuzzled Romano's face, making the boy whine.<br>Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Adorable. So what are you two up to? It's dangerous to walk around without a purpose while the world is still unstable."

"Unstable?" Lovino frowned. The ground didn't seem to be moving…

"You didn't explain anything to him?" Gilbert asked Antonio.

"I didn't have time to!" Antonio defended himself.

"Well there's time now," Gilbert nodded towards a small building: a well-kept bar. "It might not be the greatest place for a kid, but we can talk in peace there." He turned on his heel and walked into the bar, with Antonio and Lovino following him. Lovino's eye twitched slightly as he saw that the inside of the building was just as white as the rest of the world. Really, he was getting sick of so much white.

The moment that the two friends were sitting comfortably in one of the many well-lit booths, their usual orders were placed in front of them by a girl who looked a lot like Alice to Lovino. The waitress gave the two men a small smile as she sat the drinks down, but frowned slightly at Lovino, who was staring hard at the colorless liquid in the two glasses. It smelled like alcohol, one like wine and one like Nonno's friend's favorite drink, beer, but they definitely didn't look like those drinks.

Antonio smiled at the waitress. "He'll just have some tomato juice~" he said, trying to shoo her away from the table and more specifically, his Romanito. The waitress just raised an eyebrow and walked away to retrieve the order.

Lovino looked around at the people in the bar. They seemed absolutely normal. What made this world (his world if he believed Antonio) so wonderful, anyway? Really, it was super ugly without color.

Apparently he had been thinking aloud, because Gilbert sent Antonio a look. "You brought him here to be the Host, so you can explain this to him."

Antonio stuck his tongue out at his friend and turned to Romano. "I think the easiest explanation for this world is to call it a dream," the brunette shrugged. "Whatever you want to happen here, whatever you want to exist here, will happen and come to life. You control the state of this world, like if you're sad, it will rain. If you're happy, it will be sunny and so on." His eyes flickered to the window and the white world beyond it. "You can also choose the colors for the world, too. If you wouldn't mind, would you do that soon?"

Lovino crossed his arms and scowled. "Bastard, you're crazy! I can't change any of that just because I feel like it!"

"You can't?" Gilbert challenged. "Prove it."

"Yeah, show us that you can't change the color of the leaves," Antonio encouraged.

Lovino smirked. "Fine. If I can actually change the colors, I say that the trees will be hot pink!" he closed his eyes in satisfaction. These bastards were insane-

There was a collective gasp from the people in the bar and frantic discussion as Lovino finished talking. Confused, Lovino cracked his eyes open and was confronted by the two grinning faces of Antonio and Gilbert. "What?"

"Look outside, Romanito~" Antonio practically squealed.

Nervously, Lovino looked out the window and his jaw fell slack. Outside, the world was still white, but where there had once only been the dark outlines of leaves and treetops, the foliage had been filled in with hot pink. Lovino turned to Antonio with wide eyes. This was a trick! There was no fucking way that he did that!

…Right?

Gilbert whistled. "Why'd you choose pink? It's so not an awesome color."

"Be nice!" Antonio flicked him in the forehead. "It was his first try."

"I… I really did that?" Lovino finally found his words.

Antonio nodded and pulled him into a hug. "Si~! Try again!"

Lovino sat on his lap in thought. He could do anything he wanted. If he willed it, he could make the grass blue with yellow polka dots. The sky could be purple with red clouds and a moon really made of cheese! He stared at the window and watched as his thoughts became reality…

Ew, the moon looked really gross. So did the grass; what had he been thinking? Uh, how about turquoise grass and leaves, light purple tree bark, a light green sky and… let's keep the clouds white…

Slowly, color dripped into the world and the people of the village watched in awe. Antonio gave Gilbert a smug little smirk, and Gilbert rolled his eyes. Okay, so maybe Antonio hadn't screwed up with choosing a Host. Gilbert was still more awesome.

The door to the bar flew open, revealing a disheveled, panting Francis. Upon seeing his friends, he ran up and waved his arms around dramatically. "Mes amis, look! Look at the color!" his voice immediately dropped to a whisper and leaned over Lovino without noticing him and hissed at Antonio. "Where is the Host? Is he safe?"

"Ask him yourself, but be quiet, I don't want anyone else to know he's right here," Antonio whispered, pushing Francis away far enough away from his face so that he could see the poor little kid that he almost crushed against his friend's chest.

Francis blinked, startled at the sight of the child, before letting a small smirk uncurl across his lips. "Ah, so this is the Host that you were so excited about! How cute."

Lovino glared at the blonde man. "I'm not cute!"

Gilbert looked at him with a critical eye. "You kind of are, kid."

Antonio laughed and hugged the complaining boy. "You're adorable!"

As their conversation began to grow louder, Francis' concern for the Host's safety returned. "Perhaps we should continue this argument somewhere safer," he suggested. "People are beginning to notice, and I don't know about the other world, but here, three grown men and a child seem kind of suspicious."

Antonio looked around the bar and nodded. "Si, perhaps we should go. But to where?"

"How about we bring him to see Arthur?" Francis suggested. "You know he'll bother us until he gets to meet him anyway."

Antonio groaned but Gilbert nodded. "He's probably lacking in awesome like always, so we might as well grace him with my awesome presence!"

Antonio sighed and stood up, letting Romano sit on his shoulders. "Fine, let's go see the grouchy little angel. At least his house is secluded; Roma will be safe there."

The trio and Lovino made their way through the village, looking around themselves in awe at the color that now surrounded him.  
>Soon enough, they reached a secluded little house in the middle of the forest surrounding the village that they just left. Indigo smoke curled out of the chimney and disappeared into the green sky. Francis walked up to the door and knocked lightly. "Arthur, are you home? We have brought someone for you to meet."<p>

There was a loud bang from somewhere beyond the door and after a moment, the door opened to reveal… what was probably supposed to be 'Arthur'.

Lovino recoiled and hid his face in Antonio's back as a tar-black creature opened the door. Large black-feathered wings twitched between the creature's shoulder blades and poison-green eyes stared at the four from under large, pointed boned ridges that could pose as eyebrows.

The creature frowned at Antonio and looked down at Lovino, who cowered behind the older man. Gilbert gave the creature a look. "Uh, Arthur," he said quietly, looking pointedly at the black thing.

Arthur looked down at himself, and if he could have, he would have blushed. "Oh…" he mumbled and closed the door quickly. When the door opened again, a green eyed man with scruffy blonde hair and large – are those real? – eyebrows was there to greet them. The dark wings had been replaced by white feathers, like the wings on the angels that Lovino had seen pictures of back home. He twirled a halo around a finger before allowing it to rest snugly in the air above his head. "I apologize for my indecency," Arthur apologized, wiping non-existent dirt off of his shoulder once the halo was in place. "I didn't realize that you three would have a child with you." He frowned. "Actually, why _do_ you have a child?"

Antonio carefully detached Romano from the back of his shirt and presented him to the blonde man. "This is Romano, the new Host."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Our new Host is a _child_?" he groaned. "Great, as if this place wasn't unstable on its own, you three decided that it would be a good idea to have a _child _run it!"  
>Gilbert and Francis immediately began to deny it. "Woah, don't lump us with him!" Gilbert sputtered.<p>

"Oui! This was Antonio's idea!" Francis continued.

"Guys!" Antonio whined. "Thanks a lot!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and turned his attention onto 'Romano'. He knew that it wasn't his real name, but a Host's real name should never be said while in this world. The blonde highly doubted that Antonio had explained even the _basic_ rules, laws, and codes of the world to the new Host. The brunette was always an airhead like that; and that was _precisely _why he had never been the one to find a Host before. He always let his heart blind his better judgment…

Arthur knelt down next to Romano. "Has anyone told you anything about where you are, lad?"

Romano swallowed a lump in his throat and shook his head, staring silently at the monster-turned-man. What was this man? Nobody else looked like that! He turned his head slightly to look at the three bickering friends. Nobody else looked like that, really… right?

Arthur sighed again. "I didn't think so," getting back to his feet, he motioned for Romano to follow him into the house. "Come on, lad, I need to talk to you, then."

Romano bit his lip and took another glance at Antonio before following Arthur into his small house.

The two left the other three on the doorstep and sat at the kitchen table. Arthur offered Romano a cup of tea, which he accepted, curling his hands around the warm cup and staring into its brownish depths. They sat in silence for a few moments before Arthur cleared his throat. "So, you are the new Host?"

Romano nodded, eyes trained on his tea.

"Do you know what that means?"

The boy shook his head, gripping the cup tighter. Antonio hadn't told him much of anything, except that this place was sort of like a dream. So what if he could change colors or his feelings could control the weather? That was just weird! It didn't explain anything!

Arthur stared at the approaching storm clouds out the window before starting his explanation. "When we say that you are the Host, Romano, it means that this world relies totally on you to develop and change. Whatever you do here or back in your home will make something here shift. All the people and creatures here are yours, but don't expect them all to act like it. There are plenty of people here that would love to use you just for your power, so you're going to have to be careful." He let Romano take in the little information that he gave, not sure what else to say. "Do you have any questions?" the angel asked. "That might be the best way for me to explain more."

Romano thought for a moment and nodded. The sight of Arthur as a nightmarish creature seemed to be permanently etched into his brain. "That black thing at the door… that was you?"

Arthur stiffened a bit, but nodded after a few seconds. "Yes, that was me."

"Why?" Romano asked bluntly, then regretted his tone and tried again. "I mean, why did you look like that? I've never seen someone do that…"

Arthur sighed, looking uncomfortable. "Has Antonio told you that this world is like a dream?" at Romano's nod, he continued. "Well, where there's dreams, there's nightmares, too. Every 'human' in this world has a dream side and a nightmare side." He pointed at his chest. "For example, this is my dream identity. And as for the thing you saw earlier, that was my nightmare side."

"So everyone has something like that?" Romano asked.

Arthur nodded. "Yes, but some people have more control over their nightmares than others. That state is very unstable, rooted in negative emotions unlike the dream state, which is the positive side. It is the job of the Host to keep the dream side alive and keep the nightmares from taking over. Do you think you can do that?"

Romano wanted nothing more than to say yes or at least nod, but he was frozen. How was he supposed to do any of that? He was only a kid! They couldn't possibly expect him to do that!

Arthur seemed to notice his panic. "You won't be alone in this, you know," he said. "We – those three and I plus others – will be helping you keep the balance as well. Plus, all you really have to do is be happy… or at least calm. Now do you think that your task is so impossible?"

Romano took a deep breath before shaking his head. "I'll do it!"

Arthur sighed around his tea cup, taking a sip. _'For everyone's sake, I hope you're right, lad…'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

*looks up at chapter* grr why does the formatting still seem off? Ah, well, I'll fix that somehow...

So yay, more of the plot is revealed! The chapter was going to be longer, but it was already long enough, if you asked me at least. And that means that I actually have a good part of chapter three done!

Review por favor? X3

Ciao~!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

Hey look, I'm still sorta on a weekly schedule~ But watch that fall apart when I start school lol

But I have power back now! That's better than some of my town at least . the hurricane did more than I thought, I guess... And to any of my readers who were affected by the storm, you're in my prayers!

So this chapter kind of skips through a good few years for Lovino, so I'm sorry if it gets a bit confusing along the way!

*looks at chapter* ...and the paragraphs are still messed up... fffffff

* * *

><p>(10 years old)<p>

"No, Romano, like this," Arthur demonstrated the motions needed for the spell they were practicing. The two were in front of Arthur's house, trying to teach Romano the basics of spell casting. The angel felt that, if nothing else, the Host should at least know basic defensive spells.  
>Antonio watched from the shade of a nearby tree, keeping an eye on his boy. Francis and Gilbert were with him, bickering lightly over nothing.<br>Romano watched Arthur's motions with a huff. The angel's movements were like water, fluid and precise, and a transparent blue shield formed in front of him, solidifying and surrounding him. Arthur dropped his arms the shield stayed in the air in front of him. "You must clear your head and whatever you do, don't concentrate. Protection and healing spells rely on the element, water, calm and confident." he waved a hand and the spell broke; the shield shattered like crystal. He ruffled his feathery wings before motioning for Romano to try again.  
>Romano scowled, but took a deep breath, trying to calm a pounding heart. The angel bastard made it look so easy! He closed his eyes and went through the motions again, a half step back, one arm across his chest, the subtle outstretch of his other arm and the flick of a wrist...<br>He could feel the cool glow of blue light hit his closed eyelids and he willed his heart not to pound so loud. Now was the part he always screwed up on. With the hand that was partially outstretched, he pushed forward, making the blue shield grow. For a second, it seemed like it worked, but then Romano opened his eyes and his gaze locked with Antonio's. Instantly the cool blue shield burst into orange flames, the spell became unstable and the power shoved Romano away, changing from a protection spell to a ball of flame.  
>Again, Arthur put out his faulty spell and sighed. The kid had potential, he had the power and the passion, but something always distracted him...<br>The angel's gaze flickered between a discouraged Romano to the trio that the boy was half watching and scowled. Romano had a dark blush covering his cheeks as he watched Antonio out of the corner of his eyes, shoulders drooped in disappointment. Antonio met his eyes with a look of encouragement and Arthur sighed. The boy was obviously distracted by trying to impress his shadow and not concentrating on the spell as completely as he should have been.

"Antonio," Arthur called over to the brunette "Would you three leave us? Romano seems to be getting distracted."

As Romano glared at Arthur's back, Gilbert got to his feet and laughed. "The boy's getting distracted by my awesome, right? I knew it would happen!"

"Not even close," Romano muttered under his breath, making the other three men laugh and Gilbert sputter indignantly.

"Fine, we'll be down at the bar if you need us!" Antonio said after giving Romano a goodbye kiss on the forehead (which the boy made a big show of wiping off). When the three troublemakers were gone, Romano turned back to Arthur and scowled.

Arthur sighed. "Let's just try this again…"

.~.~.~.~.

Romano sat with his chin resting on the bar counter top, watching Antonio and his friends out of sheer boredom. They really weren't that entertaining to watch anymore…

Romano picked his head up curiously at the sound of a piano playing somewhere close and turned his head to see a little blonde girl playfully tapping the keys in no particular order.

The boy slipped from his seat to go closer. The little girl lifted her head and smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Lili, my brother owns this bar," she introduced herself, extending her hand to shake like her big brother had taught her. "Who are you?"

"Romano," Romano smiled back and accepted her hand. "Can you play?" he asked, motioning to the piano.

Lili shook her head. "No, I just think it sounds pretty. Actually, I don't know anyone who _can _play, so nobody can teach me," she explained sadly.

Romano thought for a second. "What if I could teach you?" his grandfather had a big piano in his house, and surely he would teach him!

Lilli's eyes lit up. "You would do that?"

"Of course!" Romano assured.

"Thank you, Romano!" Lili giggled happily, running over to her brother to tell him the good news.

Romano, still smiling slightly, walked back over to the trio. "Roma, you're so sweet~" Antonio cooed, pulling him into a hug.

"S-shut up!" Romano blushed. "I'm not sweet damn it! She's a pretty girl and plus the piano isn't half bad!"

"Little Romano is so kind to pretty girls, isn't he?" Francis teased, earning a kick in the stomach from the boy.

Gilbert just laughed, out of range from the flailing boy and both of his friends. "You guys are so not awesome right now!"

.~.~.~.~.

(11 years old)

"No, no, Lovino, like this," Romulus Vargas instructed his oldest grandson, fixing the boy's hands once again on top of the piano keys, showing him the fingerings for the basic melody he was teaching. The boy had insisted on trying to learn the piano for no apparent reason. He had never taken interest in the arts at all, at least, as far as Romulus knew.

Lovino scowled and yanked his hands away, fixing them back on the keys in a way he found comfortable and efficient; screw posture, this worked too!

Romulus sighed. "Lovino, how do you expect me to teach you if you do not listen? Feliciano listens, and see how talented he is!"

The mention of his little brother made Lovino slam his hands down on the ivory, eliciting a loud banging of off-key notes as he whipped around to glare at his caretaker. "Just teach me, damn it!" he yelled.

The older man sighed and sat back down on the bench, once again pointing out the mistakes of his problem child.

.~.~.~.~.

"Ah, Romano, you're so talented!" Lili sighed as she sat listening to Romano play on the piano in her older brother's bar, her big green eyes watching his fingers as she played with the violet ribbon in her hair.

Romano smiled and thanked her, moving to one side of the bench to invite the 8-year-old girl to sit with him so that he could show her the fingerings of the light-hearted melody he had been playing.

Lilli's older brother, Vash, watched the two of them from the bar, fingers twitching for the gun hidden under the counter. Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis sat near him, also watching the two.

"You keep that boy of yours a good distance away from my sister, got it, Antonio?" Vash growled threateningly at the shadow, not knowing that the boy was his planet's Host.

Antonio waved a hand. "Don't worry, Vash, he's not going to hurt her, I promise."

"I'm holding you to that," the blonde huffed and moved farther down the bar to tend to another customer.

Antonio continued to watch his boy laugh with the little blonde girl, looking genuinely happy. "You two think it was a good idea to bring him here, don't you?" he asked his friends randomly.

Francis also turned to stare at Romano. "So far, there seems to be nothing wrong with the world, so he's not hurting anything by being here," he commented.

"Aw, admit it, Franny!" Gilbert elbowed him, almost spilling his beer in the process. "You like the kid being here!"

"Oui, I suppose I do," Francis admitted. "He is rather cute."

Antonio stared at him. "Hands to yourself, Francis," he ordered coolly.

"Ahaha~ of course mon ami!" the blonde agreed quickly and turned back to his wine without another comment.

Antonio turned back to Romano and the piano and sighed contentedly. This was perfection.

.~.~.~.~.

(12 years old)

Antonio found Romano sitting at Arthur's kitchen table one afternoon, staring at a tomato sitting on the table top. Gilbert was bothering Vash in town and he could hear Arthur and Francis bickering in the garden.

Setting down the basket of fresh picked vegetables for that night's dinner, Antonio pulled up a chair and sat down next to the boy, folding his arms and resting his chin on them just like Romano. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Antonio decided to break it, seeing how Romano was perfectly content with ignoring him in favor of the red fruit-vegetable. "What are you doing, Roma?" he asked with a small laugh.

"I'm staring," Romano mumbled.

"I can see that, but why?"

"Because it just appeared there," Romano explained.

Antonio looked between Romano and the fruit. "What do you mean 'it just appeared there'?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Romano lifted his head, never taking his eyes off of the tomato. "I was just thinking about how I wanted a tomato and it just showed up."

Antonio stared at the tomato for a moment before picking it up, making Romano gasp a little. It _felt _like a real tomato. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. It _smelled _like a real tomato. Carefully, he brought it to his lips, and bit it. Romano cringed. What if it wasn't a real tomato? Stupid Antonio; you shouldn't eat suspicious food!

Antonio's teeth sank into the tomato and he let out a small hum of satisfaction. That was one of the best tomatoes he had ever eaten!

The shadow swallowed and turned back to Romano. "So you wanted a tomato and it appeared?" Romano nodded. "…Do it again."

Romano frowned but stared at the bitten tomato hungrily. He _really_ wanted a tomato…

Antonio let out a little noise of surprise and Romano's gaze was once again drawn to the table top…

Where another shiny red tomato rested peacefully.

Romano turned to Antonio to see his friend's face broken into an ecstatic grin. "Romanito that is so cool!" he squealed. "You can summon things now! Arthur said that you would be able to some day and you can!" he pulled the boy into a tight bear hug and rained kisses down on his forehead and cheeks.

"Let go, bastard!" Romano whined, secretly happy with his own accomplishment and his position in Antonio's hold, but he struggled anyway, wriggling around in his arms.

Because of all of the moving and Antonio still kissing him, the kisses didn't always fall where Antonio wanted them to…

Including one straight on Romano's virgin lips.

The two males stared at one another for a moment that seemed to last hours, still connected by the lips until Antonio broke it off, eyes wide with shock.

Romano stared at Antonio's lips, face turning redder every second, mouth opening and closing like a dying fish.

"R-Roma…" Antonio "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

As Antonio tried to speak, Romano's lips presses once again against his own to silence him. "Shut up." The boy mumbled, not meeting the older man's eyes, still blushing hard.

Antonio stared at his boy in shock, slowly blushing himself. "…Romano." He whispered in blissful surprise.

"D-don't think too hard on it… it's just a fucking kiss," Romano mumbled, hiding his red face behind his bangs.

Antonio smiled softly and tilted Romano's face up to his and presses a third chaste kiss to his precious pink lips. "You're so cute, Romanito~" he laughed quietly.

And that was Romano's limit. With a loud cry, he slammed his head into Antonio's chin "Oh my God, Antonio, shut the fuck up!"

"Oww! Love you too, Roma~!"

.~.~.~.~.

"Hey, Feliciano…" Lovino whispered to his brother one night. The two were supposed to be sleeping, but Feli had crawled into Lovino's bed for warmth a few minutes prior.

"Hmm?" the younger Vargas mumbled in sleepy acknowledgement.

"What do you think about dreams and nightmares?" Lovino asked quietly. He had been unable to sleep with his mind plagued by Arthur's nightmare side and the thought that Antonio or his friends could be the same way.

"Well," Feliciano hummed thoughtfully. "Dreams are all pretty and soft and safe. Nonno calls them night-wishes ve~. And nightmares are all gross and scary and dangerous!" Feli shivered. "I don't like them at all!"

"But don't you need nightmares to have dreams?" Lovino pondered. "Like you need dark to have light and all of that shit that Nonno goes on about?"

Feliciano shrugged. "I guess, but I still don't like nightmares." He cuddled closer to his brother. "Why, did fratello have a nightmare?"

Lovino sighed and moved closer to his brother. "Not yet…"

.~.~.~.~.

Romano woke up from his siesta, curled up against Antonio in the field of flowers hiding the notebook. He sighed tiredly and tried to fall asleep again only to be woken again as Antonio moved his position until he was spooning him.

Romano grunted at the new position and flipped around so that his face was in Antonio's chest, breathing in his calming warmth and thinking about what Feliciano had said last night. Nightmares were scary and dangerous, and dreams were safe and warm. Antonio was safe and warm, so he was a dream. Arthur was the same, but he had said that everyone here had a dream side and a nightmare side. Romano had even seen Arthur's nightmare side.

And, if what Arthur said was true, which he had proven it was, then Antonio had a nightmare side too, right?

"A-Antonio?" he mumbled, shaking the older man slightly.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Romanito?" Antonio yawned.

Romano shifted uncomfortably, not sure if he should voice his thoughts. "Y-you know how Arthur said that everyone has a nightmare and a dream side?"

Antonio was silent for a moment. "Si, what about it?" he asked carefully.

"W-well do you?" Romano asked. "I-I mean, do you have a nightmare side too?"

Antonio sighed and hid his face in Romano's shoulder. "Don't think too hard on it, okay, Romano?"

"B-but I…"

Antonio's teeth left a gentle mark on his neck, a silent warning not to bring it up again.

Romano swallowed his words without another thought.

.~.~.~.~.

(13 years old)

"Antonio!" Romano yelled, running across the flower field to where Antonio slept under an apple tree; Arthur following slowly behind him. "Antonio I did it! I did the spell!"

Antonio got to his feet and wrapped the boy in a hug and giving him a little kiss on the lips. "Muy bien chico! Can I see it?"

All the enthusiasm flew away from Romano at his words, leaving his face pale. "S-see it?" he stammered worriedly.

Arthur finally caught up to him and nodded. "Yes, you should show Antonio all of the hard work that you have done." He advised. During the last few years, he had taught the boy much more than the defense spell they had tried on their fist lesson. First was protection, then summoning and enchantment, and now attacks. The Host had come a long way in such a small amount of time.

Romano looked between his teacher and Antonio, a nervous blush covering his face. "I… I…"

"Please Romano?" Antonio begged, hugging him tighter. "I really want to see it!"

"Fine, fine! Just let go!" Romano growled and shoved the older man off, a blush still clinging to his cheek bones. He backed away a few steps and closed his eyes in concentration. He took a slow, deep breath and put himself in a more grounded stance. Raising his hands, he said the words that Arthur had taught him and with flames licking in his eyes, he clapped his hands.

As his hands separated, a flaming sword was left behind in the space between them. With a triumphant smile, Romano held the sword up for Antonio to see.

Antonio stared at the fire-sword in shock. "Wow, Romano, that's amazing!" he breathed.

"Damn right it is!" Romano smirked, almost expertly playing with the sword.

"Just be careful," Arthur advised, taking hold of the sword handle and making it disappear, earning a whine of disappointment from both Antonio and Romano. "Fire spells are incredibly unstable and-"

"And should never be taken lightly or used for fun." Romano recited. "You've told me all of this before, Angel-Bastard."

Antonio held back laughter and Arthur raised an eyebrow. "…Well it has stuck with you, hasn't it?"

Romano mumbled to himself and shrugged. "So?"

"Aw, Romano, you are so cute!" Antonio cooed and kissed his lips as he wrapped him in his arms, earning a whine from Romano but his weight leaning against his chest.

Arthur watched the two of them with mild interest. Their relationship wasn't… right, but there wasn't any reason for him to stop it.

At least… not yet.

.~.~.~.~.

"Ve~ Fratello seems so happy lately!" Feliciano cooed from his spot at the kitchen table, feet kicking the air idly as he munched on a bowl of spaghetti.

Romano hummed through his pasta, only half listening to his brother as he ate his lunch quickly, hoping to visit Antonio before it got too dark to go to the gardens.

"Has Nonno talked to you about school?" Feli asked, still trying to talk with his brother. Lovino was barely ever around! He disappeared for hours every day! "He says that when I'm fourteen he's going to send me to an art school, isn't that cool! Hey, hey, maybe he'll send you to a music school! Ve~ you love playing the piano, and you're really good at it too, fratello!"

A music school? Lovino thought it over, putting another forkful of noodles into his mouth. That actually didn't sound like a bad idea. He was sick of the tutors that Nonno hired to teach him and Feliciano; maybe actually going to a school would be, dare he think it, fun.

He swallowed his food and finally turned to Feliciano. "You know what, I will!" he smirked determinedly. "I'm gonna be the best pianist ever!"

Feliciano cheered along with him, waking up Spain, who had been sleeping under the table. The cat looked up at the resolute look in Romano's eyes and let out a kitty sigh. Such strong passion for such a small boy…

.~.~.~.~.  
>(14 years old)<br>Lovino hurried out of the house to meet the mail carrier down by the street, hoping that today his letter would come.  
>"Hello, Lovino," the older man smiled and handed the excited boy a pile of mail, tapping the envelope on the top with a wink. "I believe this is what you've been waiting for."<br>"Thank you!" Lovino said quickly and bolted back to the manor, dropping the mail on the hall floor and opening up his envelope with anticipation. His face lit up at the words printed on the paper: the music school had accepted him! Finally, he could go to a talent school like his brother! He had to tell Antonio!  
>Clutching the letter to his chest (and leaving the rest of the mail on the floor), he ran out to the garden, following the path that would lead him to the tomatoes. Crouching down in the dirt, he carefully took the book from its hiding place in the vines, running a hand over the branded design before flipping to a random page. With a small blade that Antonio had made him slip into the book, he cut his finger and let the blood color the page. After so many times, the pain no longer bothered him, and nobody noticed his bandages, anyway.<br>Like every time before, the page began to glow and Lovino was sucked into the pages, blinded by color.  
>Antonio dozed lightly in the field of flowers, lazily twirling a pink flower in his hand. He hummed a little tune to himself as he thought of his precious Roma. His boy had been busy lately, so his visits had been shorter and more spread out than Antonio would have liked.<br>Then again, if Antonio could have his way, Romano would stay with him permanently...  
>Romano appeared in the field silently. Not long ago, he would have stumbled and given himself away when he appeared, but after so many visits to his dream world, he had finally gotten the landing down.<br>Seeing Antonio lying not too far away, Romano had to suppress a devious laugh as he willed the flowers to turn into tomato plants.  
>Antonio yelped as the flower he was holding turned into a bright red tomato. All around him, tomato vines obscured his vision. Romano's laughter drifted to his ears and he looked around him wildly, an amused smile split his face.<p>

"Romano, where are you~?"  
>He felt soft lips touch the back of his neck, but his assailant was gone with a bought of laughter when he turned around.<br>With a crafty smirk, Antonio lay on his back and waited for Romano to attack him again.  
>Sure enough, Antonio heard the leaves rustle and suppressed giggles as another kiss was gently laid on his forehead. Just as the lips started to pull away, Antonio's eyes snapped open and, with a feral smirk, he wrapped his arms tight around the startled, and now struggling young teen.<br>Romano shrieked as Antonio grabbed him and rolled him over so that the older man lay on top of him, trapping him under his broad chest and in his arms.  
>"Gotcha~" Antonio breathed against his lips and stole a kiss, making Romano blush that beautiful shade of red that he loved so much.<br>"Bastard," Romano panted affectionately and allowed Antonio's hands to wander his chest and arms, the older man's fingers weaved through and toyed with his hair. Antonio pressed loving kisses and nips along his neck and shoulders, making him squirm from the attention that he had long since figured out was to be expected from his possessive more-than-a-friend.  
>"Okay, that's enough!" Romano grunted as the kisses became harder and hands wandered closer to his belt. His mind was beginning to become hazy with growing pleasure and he refused to go too far so quickly.<br>Antonio whimpered. "But I haven't seen you in so long, Roma~!"  
>"I was here a few days ago, idiot!" Romano pushed his face away gently and Antonio laughed.<br>"But I missed you!" Antonio nuzzled his stomach, making the ticklish Romano snort. "You have to come more often! Or stay here with me, mi amor!"  
>Romano sighed. "You know that I can't do that, Tonio."<br>Antonio sighed and nodded. "Si, I know..."  
>The two lay together in comfortable silence as Romano changed the tomatoes back into flowers, eventually dozing off for a few minutes before Romano remembered why he had been in such a hurry to see the tanned man (besides the obvious affection).<br>"Tonio," he mumbled quietly and the older man grunted in a way to say that he was listening. "Do you remember that music school that I told you about?" he asked carefully, not sure how Antonio would take the news.  
>Antonio blinked lazily and nodded. He had always encouraged his Romanito's singing and musical abilities. "Si, what about it?"<br>Romano pulled away from his embrace slightly. "I... I got accepted. I leave in a week."  
>Antonio's smile faltered a bit. "Leaving? Romanito, you're not leaving~" he laughed, a nervous, worried sound.<br>Romano flinched and wouldn't meet his eyes. "Y-yes I am. That's what I came to tell you. I don't know when I'll be able to visit next, maybe winter break..."  
>Antonio laughed again, tightening his hold on Romano. "Silly Roma~. I already told you, you're not leaving~. So there's nothing to worry about."<br>"Antonio, I'm serious!" Lovino frowned, the tan man was beginning to worry him; his eyes were bright and wild and his arms kept tightening. He struggled until Antonio let go and got to his feet. "I'll come back every break and see you then, but I need to go to this school!"  
>"Mi Romanito," Antonio got to his own feet, his form starting to waver in and out of focus. "I am being serious as well. I will not allow you to leave me."<br>Lovino took a few nervous steps away as Antonio began to change, morphing from his perfect human form into a black, tar-like creature with glowing green eyes and a Cheshire grin. Long, sharp claws made dripping fingers look longer and his feet seemed to seep into the ground. "A-Antonio, stop it!" he ordered, horrified by the shadow in front of him. The shadow came closer, mumbling things about _his_ Romanito never leaving, staying with him forever in _their_ world. "Antonio you're scaring me, fucking cut it out!" his voice was high pitched and scared.  
>He let out a scream as Antonio's nightmare side grabbed him, claws sinking into his olive toned flesh and drawing up dark blood. "Stop it!"<br>"Stay with me, Roma!" Antonio rasped, eyes bright with terror at the thought of never seeing his Romanito again and anger at the thought of him leaving. Romano's eyes were filled with pain and he leaned in close to his face, whispering an alarming promise. "Stay and you will never feel pain again!"  
>Lovino kicked the creature in the stomach and ripped his arm away, ignoring the burn of tearing flesh as the claws released him and bolting back to where the notebook lay, clutching his bloody arm to his chest.<br>"No!" Antonio yelled and chased after him, succeeding in catching him by the back of his shirt, tearing it to shreds and ripping away huge claw-mark gouges in the boy's back.  
>Lovino let out a sob of pain and stumbled, hitting the ground hard on his bad arm but scrambling away immediately. Tears of horror streamed down his face and blurred his vision as he tripped over the notebook.<br>He made a desperate grab for it and opened to a page, the flowing blood on his hands opening the passage the moment he touched the page. He let out a small, tear-choked noise of relief as the colors enveloped him but let out a scream as Antonio grabbed his leg.  
>Lovino hit the garden ground hard and screamed, alerting some of the servants in the yard. He tried to crawl away, grabbing at the dirt as Antonio tried to drag him back, claws sinking into Lovino's shin as the boy tried to kick him off. Half of the shadow's body was in the book, halfway in each world.<br>"Let go!" Lovino sobbed. "Antonio, please! Stop it!"  
>By now, some of the gardeners had found them, the smell of copper strong around them as the young boy bled into the tomatoes, held captive by a creature out of their nightmares.<br>One of them sliced through Antonio's arm with a shovel, making the shadow recoil with an animalistic hiss, the severed arm evaporating. Another gardener grabbed Lovino and pulled him close and out of the shadow's reach.  
>"Romano!" the creature screamed, desperate and upset. "Mi Romanito!"<br>"The book!" Lovino sobbed, pointing at the book sucking the monster in.  
>"Romano!" the monster wailed, almost crying, but Lovino refused to look at him, turning away as a brave servant shut the book and buried it under the tomatoes. Only when the book disappeared into the dirt did Lovino allow himself to cry, letting out a heartbroken, agonizing wail.<br>Every gate to every part of the garden was permanently locked the next day. Lovino would go to the school in another month, leaving the house and the man he once loved forever, never looking back.  
>Spain watched everything happen from his tree. This was never part of the plan…<p>

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><p><strong>AN:**

Bwahaha! Spain is back and so is his 'plan'. X3

And I created and destroyed a shota Spamano relationship in a single chapter T3T ...it had to be done, really! Now the fun can begin next chapter~

...Anyone freaked out by the 'nightmare' side of Antonio? I don't think I made him scary enough .3.

Rate and Review por favor!

Ciao~!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

...My God... I seriously can't keep to a schedule... I blame school X3

Ah, well, I've got this for now~ .3. and I lied accidentally. The 'fun' really doesn't start until next chapter, but... this is all needed. No filler chapters for Sword~

...Yet

* * *

><p>"You did <em>what<em>!" Francis screamed at Antonio, pacing worriedly around Arthur's kitchen as Gilbert helped bandage what was left of his arm. It would grow back eventually...  
>"I lost control a bit, okay?" Antonio growled without passion, eyes distant and lost.<br>"'A bit'?" Gilbert frowned, tightening the bandage and making Antonio wince. "This was more than 'a bit'."  
>Antonio scowled, the expression a foreign and uncomfortable mask on his face, but he'd grow used to it. "I know that - ouch!" he flinched again as Francis pinched his ear.<br>"Mon Ami, there will be horrible consequences for this. You have scared away our Host. This world can not stay stable on its own."  
>Antonio sighed. "Look, I know all this! And I'll fix this... Somehow. I'm a shadow; I can keep the world stable for at least a little while, and we'll find another Host. Or... Or maybe Romanito will come back..." he trailed off, tears dripping from his eyes. "R-Roma!" he whimpered, hiding his face in his remaining hand. His love, the one thing that mattered in his life had left him, possibly forever, and really, he could do nothing about it.<br>Francis and Gilbert looked at each other and sighed before wrapping their friend in a comforting hug. The fate of their world could wait; today, Antonio was most important.

Arthur watched from the doorway, shaking his head sadly. Getting a child involved had been a bad choice from the start.  
>.~.~.~.~.<p>

Spain quietly padded down the cold stone hallway in his Master's castle, taking his time. He was in no hurry to tell his most recent news: the Host was gone, probably for good.

It wasn't that he was afraid of Master's reaction, no, he was afraid of Master's boss's reaction. He would not take the news as calmly as Master…

Spain found his master sleeping against one of the marble doorways. He wasn't in his master's room, but he was close enough to tick his superior off. He always enjoyed doing that; Spain didn't understand what was so fulfilling about ticking off a superior.

With a small mew, Spain nudged the brunette awake, kneading at his shoulder with gentle claws. Slowly, the man woke up, blinking sleepy eyes at the cat before grunting a hello. "What does my friend have to tell me?" he mumbled, stroking Spain's ear lazily.

Before Spain could say anything, the door that Master had been sleeping against opened, letting his head smack onto the ground. A pair of booted feet made themselves comfortable by Master's face.

"Heracles, have you gotten the information that I requested?" a man's silk-lined voice asked from above the boots.

Heracles looked up lazily into his employer's masked face and frowned. "Don't know yet… He has yet to tell me…" he sighed.

Sadik looked down at the brown and white cat with a smirk. "Well, care to share?" he asked.

Spain held back a hiss; it wouldn't do to anger him, and turned to Heracles. _'The host… is back in his world. I don't believe he's coming back this time.' _He purred sadly, wrapping his tail around Heracles' wrist.

Heracles sighed and turned his face up to Sadik, repeating what Spain had told him. The masked man leaned against the wall and thought it over. This was horrible! There was no way that they could get a hold of the Host or his power without him being somewhere they could reach him; without her being somewhere on this world.

"Well this sets us back a bit, doesn't it?" Sadik mused. "We'll have to get him back to us somehow. However, with the world without a Host, the reality will be unstable, so it will be easier to get control of it, won't it?"

You see, Sadik's goal was to control the reality that he had been trapped in. With there being no Host, he could overthrow the measly excuse for a governing system and take the throne that should be the Host's! And, of course, he'd send some of his minions to bring the Host back, because where's the fun in taking over a planet without having unbelievable power?

"Heracles, send your little pet back onto the other world and have him wait for the Host's return." Sadik ordered, turning on his heels and walking back into his quarters. He had a hostile takeover to plan.

Heracles tried to protest but got a door slammed in his face. With a growl, he turned back to Spain, sending the cat an apologetic look. There was no way that he could go against Sadik, not with the leverage the older man had against him.

"You heard him…" Heracles sighed.

Spain sneezed in disgust at Sadik and wound himself around Master's legs comfortingly. He didn't mind the work, really, but he would rather be sleeping than leading a human into a disgusting man's trap.  
>.~.~.~.~.<p>

Lovino trudged down the marble hallway of his new school, his shoes clicking against the floor as he followed the headmaster to his classroom and tried not to make his limp noticeable. Staring at his feet, he pulled at his shirt sleeves, tugging them far over bandaged arms. He had mixed feelings about being there. For one, he was no longer in the hospital. On the other hand, he was back to having contact with people that weren't nurses and physical and mental doctors.

He still wasn't sure what the better option was.

The headmaster knocked lightly on the classroom door before pushing it open and addressing the class.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she apologized to the teacher. "But this is Lovino Vargas; he will be joining your class…" she continued talking, but Lovino didn't bother to listen, his attention trained on his feet once again. He could feel the eyes of the other students on him, and it terrified him to have their attention. He felt as if they _knew _what had happened to him; about the scars, about Ant-… about _that man_, about everything.

"Mister Vargas," the teacher's voice grabbed his attention, dragging his eyes over to the rest of the class, which wasn't staring at him like he thought they were. "You can take that empty seat over there." She said and turned back to the board to continue the lesson.

Lovino made his way over to the empty chair and sat down, trying desperately to sink into the floorboards. Unfortunately, that didn't work, and the boy next to him leaned over with a smile. "Hey! I'm Yong Soo! Can I call you Lovino?"

Lovino shrugged, really not interested in the hyper boy. "Sure, I don't care."

Somehow, whether Lovino wanted to or not, Yong Soo was able to drag him into little conversations throughout their classes. Although he would never admit it, he was actually grateful that he had someone one to talk to.

As he allowed himself to relax with Yong Soo and the other boys in his class, he allowed a small ray of hope to shine through. Maybe he _could_ move on.

.~.~.~.~.

Antonio, Francis, Gilbert, and Arthur stared up at the rapidly darkening sky in a mix of horror and despair. Color was once again fading.

The sky took on the shade of slowly drying blood, casting the town into a brown-tinted twilight as the people of the town watched.

"So this is it," Gilbert mumbled. "The Host is really gone again."

Nobody answered; nobody wanted to confirm the truth.

The sound of approaching hooves took the town's attention away from the sky to a small fleet of black warhorses. Dismounting the lead horse was Sadik, dressed like a king of war.

Antonio growled and began to take his shadow form, stopping when Francis put a hand on his shoulder and leaving him with only black bull horns and a tail tipped with an axe blade. Around them, the crowd started to gather and Lili slipped away from her brother's bar to try and get a closer look at the horses. Antonio quickly pulled her over to them and kept her from going too close.

"Citizens," Sadik addressed the crowd. "As you all know, this world is once again without a Host. I, Sadik Adnan, have come up with a solution!"

This piqued the town people's interest. A solution to not having a Host? Impossible! They would just fade away like they always did when their Host disappeared.

"Well, go on, then!" Arthur called from within the crowd. "What is it?"

"You let me rule Sogno," Sadik continued simply, earning roars of outrage and confusion from the town. "Give Sogno a strong, powerful leader, and no longer will you have to put your fates in the hands and mind of a child!"

"He's insane!" a man next to Gilbert and Antonio yelled. "We need a young, imaginative, and _human_ soul, not the guidance of a shadow!"

"Oh, and by the way," Sadik laughed maliciously as he signaled for one of his soldiers to shoot the man who spoke up. The bullet hit his forehead and his blood splattered on Gilbert and Lili's clothes and faces, the wet thud of the body hitting the ground covered by the screams of some of the villagers as the blood seeped into the cobblestones. "I won't take no for an answer," Sadik finished, talking over the crowd.

Antonio gently moved Lili to face his chest, protecting her from the sight in front of her as he glared at Sadik in a mix of fear and anger.

Let the man believe what he wished; it would only be temporary anyway.

.~.~.~.~.

"Man, Lovino, you're soaked!" one of the boys the Italian now considered a friend laughed, staring at the dripping brunette as the group walked back to the school.

Lovino smirked and shook his head, showering his friend with pond water. The boys had been playing soccer near the school's pond, and he had been the unlucky one chosen to get the ball out of the water when they had lost it.

"Seriously, you should just take it off," Yong Soo smirked. "You'll get sick."

Lovino stuck his tongue out. "Like a fucking cold could defeat me anyway."

"Aw, 'Vino won't strip for us!" another boy faked a whine.

"Come on, 'Vino, take it off!" the first boy laughed, tugging at Lovino's wet shirt.

"W-what? No!" Lovino tried to pull away, not wanting his friends to see his scars. He had hid them so well so far!

"Aw, Lovino, relax!" Yong Soo said, joining the others with trying to remove his shirt. "No shirt is better than a wet shirt. And it's not like you have breasts to hide!"

"Cut it out!" Lovino yelled in vain as his friends jokingly ripped the wet fabric from him. As the air hit his already chilled skin, he held his arms up to shield himself as the boys around him gasped. "L-Lovino…" one of them breathed, and without opening his eyes, Lovino knew what they were staring at.

Up and down his arms, large claw-shaped scars ran from his wrists to elbows. His back was practically ripped raw and scarred over. On his shoulders were the light pink remains of old, possessive bite marks, most faded, but a few still clear on his skin. He was grateful that they hadn't removed his pants and found the scars hidden on his legs as well.

Ignoring the boy's calls to wait, Lovino bolted for his dorm, memories blinding his senses as his legs moved on autopilot.

Images of _his _face flashed in front of him; _his_ smile and _his _eyes, bright and loving, replaced immediately by green fire and living shadows and _his own blood _spattering the ground and seeping into the dirt.

And, speaking in his ear, level and hypnotic as it whispers over muffled memories of loving nothings and desperate wails was the voices of the doctors and therapists, accompanied by the constant ticking of a broken clock, saying that there is no 'Sogno'. There never was an 'Antonio'. He wasn't real. It was a horrible man who had tricked him into believing he was in love. 'Sogno' was the result of drugs that the man who was _not_ Antonio gave him. He had been using him for wrong and horrible reasons, but he couldn't hurt him anymore.

In his mind, Lovino could see himself, broken and scared and fighting their logic. They were wrong; Sogno was real, _Antonio_ was real! He had to go back and apologize, he _had _to-!

But, no, not anymore. They had broken him; more than any 'fake' man could with with his 'fake' love. Now, as he ran into his room and ripped the dripping clothes from his ruined body and hid himself away from the world in the bathroom, he believed what they wanted him to. He had been drugged, abused, molested, and maybe even raped by a man who tricked him into believing that maybe, just maybe, he was worth a damn.

He wanted nothing more than to forget, to make it all disappear, but every time he sees his own flesh, he was reminded of just how broken he was.

He wasn't sure how long he sat curled up against the bathtub only in his underwear before a light tapping on the door alerted him of Yong Soo's presence in the doorway, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Totally against his nature, he closed the door softly and quietly handed Lovino a pile of clothes – a piece offering – before sitting down across from him, leaning against the door.

He stayed silent as Lovino dressed himself, once again hiding himself. He kept the silence alive even has Lovino sat down again and hugged his legs to his chest, waiting for him to speak. The two just watched each other for a few minutes, Lovino half submerged in memories and Yong Soo trying to figure out how to begin.

Finally, Yong Soo's voice called Lovino's full attention with a few quiet words that seemed to echo in the small space. "…He was just like that, you know."

Lovino frowned and Yong Soo continued. "My brother, I mean. He was scarred like that, too… but not as bad. I noticed that one," he motioned at the straight, white scar on Lovino's hand "on your first day. I hoped that you weren't like him, but now I know that that hope was useless." He paused, watching Lovino for a reaction. "Kiku, that was his name, would disappear for hours every day. He would worry my other brother, Yao, sick but he always seemed… happier when he came back from wherever he went.

"Except for one day. One day he came back a lot earlier than he had ever before, covered in blood that I now suspect wasn't his own. He was babbling something about someone named Heracles – we still don't know who he is – and about needing to save him from something. Yao wasn't home and I tried to stop him from leaving but I couldn't. I tried to follow him, but he had disappeared. The only thing I could find was this," he left the bathroom to grab a book from his desk drawer. He returned and showed it to Lovino, making the Italian flinch as it filled his head with painful memories.

It was a leather notebook branded with a cherry blossom and a laurel branch on the cover. Hesitantly, Lovino took the book and flipped through the pages, finding them stained with long-ago dried blood.

"It's his," Yong Soo said quietly. "The blood, I mean… Do you have a notebook too?" his tone was remorseful with perhaps a bit of hope that he might finally understand what had happened to his brother.

Lovino shook his head slowly, eyes trained on the blood. "Not anymore," he said quietly. "It's gone. It's done with." His mind was reeling. Did this mean that everything was real; that the doctors were wrong?

Did this mean that _he _was real, too? Did he really… maybe…

Confused tears threatened to spill out of his eyes as he shoved the notebook back to Yong Soo. "C-can we just forget this?" Lovino begged quietly. He didn't want to think of this. He wanted to forget.

Yong Soo nodded and took the book back. "Yes… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." He wrapped his arms around his friend comfortingly. "Just… promise to be careful? I don't want you to end up like my brother."

Lovino nodded and slowly relaxed in his friend's embrace. He would stay safe; there was no danger anymore.

But what Lovino didn't realize was that there was no way to truly escape your own mind.

Nobody got off that easily.

.~.~.~.~.

Antonio snuck out of Arthur's cottage one night, letting the red glow of the moon guide his nightmare form through the town, keeping himself hidden from Sadik's soldiers patrolling the streets.

Only when he was safely past the guards and in what remained of the flower meadow did he let his dream form take over again. His eyes were filled with pain and loss as he stared out over the dead and browned remains of flowers and tomato vines and leaves. The trees were mangled and twisted, as devoid of life as the rest of the meadow.

The shadow let himself sit under the useless, leafless branches of what used to be Romano's favorite siesta tree, the dead foliage making painful crunches under his feet.

For a while, he just sat beneath the tree, thinking about how Sadik's reign had ruined everything. Riots broke out daily, killing at least a person a day, usually more. Soldiers patrolled the town for anyone who opposed Sadik's rule.

Antonio and a few others had created a small alliance against him, but so far they were practically powerless.

Arthur had even tried to find a new Host, but the world didn't accept him, leaving him stranded and currently hiding in Arthur's cottage.

The whole fact that the world _didn't _accept the new Host confused Antonio greatly. With the world trapped in the nightmare state, it should have quickly taken to the boy's imagination, like it had done every time before.

As his mind dwelled on this, his eyes scanned the dead field, always on the lookout for any guards that might, for whatever reason, feel it necessary to patrol the field.

His eyes drifted over the bland mix of grey, black and brown all tinted red from the moon. Nothing was really interesting…

Oh? What was that?

Antonio's gaze locked on something small and scarlet and partly green, partially hidden under dead foliage not too far away in the field. The shadow blinked and rubbed at his eyes; maybe the light was playing tricks on him? But the scarlet object was still there, proudly showing off its bright color in a background of faded shades.

Slowly, the shadow got to his feet and walked over to the object, picking it up only to find it attached to a long green vine.

In his palm rested a small, red tomato, perfectly round and devoid of any bruises or imperfections. He broke it from the vine and immediately, the vine browned and died with the rest of the field, leaving him with a perfect star shaped stem and leaves on top. Antonio frowned at it for a minute. Why did this one survive while the others died?

The tomato made him sigh sadly. Romano used to love these…

Which was why he had created them here…

And they had all died when he left…

Antonio held the fruit tighter and closer to his chest, making sure not to break it. If it was still alive, did that mean that Romano…

Maybe…

Antonio bolted back toward the cottage, a small spark of something that had evaded him for too long starting to come to life in his chest.

Maybe there was hope for Sogno after all.

.~.~.~.~.

(Lovino Vargas - 20 years old)  
>Lovino stared lifelessly out the carriage window, watching the countryside fly by him. On the bench across from him, Feliciano chatted animatedly about pasta with nobody in particular. Or maybe he was talking to Lovino; he wasn't listening.<br>"...You gotta remember to boil the noodles for the right amount of time. Too little and they'll be hard, however too little and they'll all meld together and you'll be stuck with a burnt, soggy ball of pasta at the bottom of your pot..."  
>Lovino tuned him out easily (years of practice) and continued to watch the countryside go by. Damn horses; couldn't the go faster?<br>The Vargas brothers were on their way back to their childhood home: the Vargas Manor. Their grandfather had died a few years ago, leaving the building in the care of some of the remaining servants and now, against Feliciano's wishes, the brothers were coming back to get the house ready to sell. They had no use for it or the property; Feliciano was away at school and Lovino... Well, he sure as hell wasn't gonna watch over the damn house! Unlike his brother, the house held no memories that he wanted to keep alive.  
>"Ve~ fratello," Feliciano's voice broke through Lovino's thoughts. "How much longer until we get there?"<br>"Hell if I know," Lovino grumbled, not caring if they got there at all.  
>As the words passed his lips, the carriage came to a stop in front of a large brown-bricked mansion. Ivy vines clung desperately to the stones and faded red drapes hid the rooms behind the dirty-pained windows. Spanish moss hung like cobwebs from their poor oak hosts and an off white fence had been left to fade.<br>"It looks..." Feliciano started, staring at the manor.  
>"Old," Lovino finished in an un-amused tone. "It looks old."<br>"Don't be so negative, fratello!" Feliciano chided, hopping from the carriage and thanking their driver. "It just needs some love."  
>Lovino glared harshly at his younger brother. "Feli, no. I know what you're thinking and the fucking answer is still no!"<br>"But Lovi-"  
>"No buts!" Lovino growled as he jumped from the carriage. "We're only here until we sell the house, dammit! Not a fucking moment longer!"<br>Feliciano sighed in defeat, but his eyes were plotting. "Si, fratello, only until the house is sold."  
>"Damn right," Lovino nodded and the two of them walked up to the front door, the wood porch creaking under their feet.<br>"Luddy!" Feliciano squealed as the door opened to reveal Ludwig, the grandson of Romulus' late business partner; Feliciano's childhood friend and present day lover.  
>"Feliciano," Ludwig grunted as he tried to catch his lover as he threw his arms around his neck in a hug. "I - we - were not expecting you until the end of the week!"<br>"Well tough shit, macho potato," Lovino scowled, "We're here now, so deal."  
>Feliciano scolded him quietly for his language and Ludwig just nodded. "Right. Anyway, I'm sure that Elizaveta and Roderich want to see you..." he led the two inside where they met up with the family friendsservants. After being bored to death by ten minutes of small talk, Lovino left his brother to talk with his childhood family and wandered aimlessly down the hallways, running a hand across the walls as he went.

He peeked curiously into some of the unlocked rooms, finding mostly sheet covered furniture and molding books and paintings. Bored, he expertly picked the locks on a set of double door and pushed them open, the old hinges creaking painfully.

Coughing slightly at the newly upturned dust, he stepped into the new room to find a lone grand piano sitting in the middle of the floor. The sight of it brought up memories of his grandfather trying to teach him to play and his sour notes. He must have learned somehow, because he was pretty well known for playing…

As he though, little wisps of a dream of him playing for a blonde girl in an old tavern tried to surface. He subconsciously shoved them away.

Wiping dust off the bench and keys, Lovino took a seat, pressing down on the ivory and listening to the un-tuned note echo throughout the small room. Slowly, carefully, he began to play, the haunting melody seeming to jump from his fingers and fill the room with its crooked notes. As he played, the blonde girl flickered through his mind again, accompanied by a man with bright green eyes, but they both disappeared as the next off-key note chimed.

Somehow, over the melody, a small _thump_ and a small scratching noise were heard from the large window. Lovino's hands slipped on the keys and as the sour notes faded, he slowly made his way over to the window.

Sitting outside on the ledge was a large, white and tan cat. Its fur was slightly matted and unkempt and it looked like it hadn't eaten in a few days, but its eyes still shone a bright, familiarly human, emerald green. Around his neck hung a small cross, now slightly rusted, but still a beautiful silver shade.

Lovino and the cat stared at each other for a minute, Lovino trying to remember why the cat seemed familiar and the cat just seemed surprised to see someone in the room.

"…Spain?" Lovino mumbled quietly. Could this seriously be his childhood pet?

The cat who was probably Spain flicked his tail as if he recognized Lovino. He calmly waked across the windowsill, watching Lovino watch him. Lovino slowly made his way to the window and cursed when he found that there was no way to open it and get closer to the cat.

Spain seemed to notice his unhappiness and Lovino could have sworn that he smirked as he jumped from the windowsill into a tree and down into the yard, looking back at Lovino every few steps, as if he wanted him to follow him.

Quickly, Lovino ran from the room and down the dirty hallways until he reached a door leading outside. Across the lawn sat Spain, watching him, almost like he was waiting.

But he was a cat. Cats don't think like that; humans do.

Or at least, that's what Lovino thought.

"Spain?" Lovino said quietly, slowly approaching the cat and trying not to spook it. "Spain c'mere…"

Spain meowed and got to his feet, walking away from him. He paused again and looked back at Lovino before making his way over to a rusted old gate. Lovino followed, stopping a few feet away and staring at the metal. Rusted over and covered in untamed vines and moss was the old gateway to the garden; Lovino's childhood escape from everything the manor had to give him. Slowly, he walked up to the gate, hand hesitating on the old lock. He frowned; there had never been a lock before…

Nonno must have put it there when he left for school years ago…

Lovino's curiosity started to get the better of him as he tried to see beyond the gate. Spain sat by his feet, watching him closely, as if he was waiting for him to do something. Lovino looked down at the lock, bouncing it in his hand slightly. It was rusted pretty badly, but maybe he could break it…

He looked around the yard for a moment, ignoring the part of his brain that was questioning just why he was trying to break it in the first place. As his eyes scanned the lawn, he found an old metal pole, probably broken from the fence somewhere, and grabbed it, bringing it back to the lock. Spain stepped away, as if he knew what the human was going to do.

With a deep breath, Lovino swung the pole at the lock until it snapped, the old metal crumbling. Spain looked between him and the now unlocked gate expectantly.

Throwing the pole away, Lovino approached the gate again, pushing it open and cringing at the nails-on-a-chalkboard creak that it gave. Spain's ears flicked in distaste before he slipped in front of the human and into the garden, once again leading him.

Curiosity ruling over reason, Lovino followed, tripping through overgrown vines and flower bushes, overripe fruit and vegetables breaking underfoot and surrounding him with a sticky sweet scent, making him dizzy. Spain didn't seem phased, walking with a purpose through the rotting flora until he reached a certain red fruit.

Lovino gazed over the rows of tomatoes, lost in dreams… or were they memories…

Whatever they were, Spain snapped him out of them as he tugged his pant leg with his teeth, drawing his attention to the ground where, in a pile of freshly dug dirt, a corner of something stuck out of the ground.

Frowning softly, Lovino bent down and picked the object up, rubbing the soil away. In his hands sat an old, dirty, and starting to mold notebook, with a lily and a carnation wrapped around each other branded on the cover. He traced the design with a shaking finger, the scars across his body itching as memories – no, dreams - …memories? – tried to push their way to the front of his mind. This notebook…

Shaking his head, eyes wide with fear, he stared to back away, hands shaking but not able to let go of the book. T-this wasn't possible. It was all fake; a dream! There was no way that this was real!  
>But that reminded him of Yong Soo and his brother from years ago. M-maybe it was real…<p>

No, no it wasn't! It couldn't be! It wasn't real!

Spain growled quietly. This wasn't working like it was supposed to…

Time to take it into his own hands… paws then, right?

As Lovino was about to drop the book, he jumped at him, claws sinking into his wrist.

Lovino cried out and tried to dislodge him, dropping the book and allowing it to open up to a blank page. As Spain's claws sank deeper, drops of blood started to drip onto the paper, slowly making it glow.

Before Lovino could react, a tugging sensation in his gut took his breath away and sent him tumbling through a haze of bright colors, making him sick and dizzy with lack of oxygen.

Just as quickly as they appeared, the colors were gone and, with a loud, painful thud, Lovino's head hit something hard, crushing his senses and sending him into darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I... have nothing to add to this.

^^" review por favor? I love to hear what you think! .o.

Ciao~!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

This chapter is majorly shorter than my other chapters, but I've gone way too long without an update again

It's unedited and I probably forgot something, but ah well~

* * *

><p>Lovino didn't want to open his eyes. Even before he was fully conscious, he knew that he would regret it. As his senses slowly returned, he could feel a throbbing headache threatening him with a promise of bruised muscles on the side. Yes, staying in the quiet warmth of unconsciousness seemed wonderful.<p>

He was about to slip away again when the sound of an animal's curious sniffling ripped through the beautifully silent inky blackness.

"…Don't think he's dead, Tony…"

"Then fucking wake him up!" 'Tony' growled, his voice high pitched and almost electronic. The voice grated Lovino's ears like nails on a chalkboard and he grunted quietly.

Apparently, he wasn't quiet enough not to be heard by whoever was above him. "Hey, dude," the not-Tony voice said, gently nudging Lovino's side with a foot. "You okay?"

'No I am _not _fucking _okay_,' Lovino growled in his head but the best his vocal chords could offer was another pained groan.

"Hurt," Tony said simply and the other voice 'tsk'-ed. As a hand shook him again, Lovino finally allowed his eyes to flicker open, blinking as a deep, sunset red filtered through his tired eyes.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" the first voice said happily, his black shape moving into Lovino's line of vision and blocking some of the painful red glare from the sun. Lovino looked up at the man in front of him and screamed.

The man in front of him was _not _a man. Blocking a deep red sun from his eyes was a large black almost eagle-shaped creature. His nose was a large, curved beak of a predator bird and shiny onyx winds lay across his back. A collar of spiked, black feathers grew from around his neck and almost glasses-patterned tufts grew around aquamarine eyes. A small, almost unnoticeable black feather stuck out from the rest growing on his head.

Lovino moved to scramble away from the monster in front of him, only to freeze as his eyes locked with a watery black glare. An alien grey frowned at him with its twig-skinny arms crossed over his tiny chest. "Bitch," the 'Tony'-voice said simply, not amused by the male human's screams.

Somehow calmed by the insult, Lovino glared back at the alien. "I'm _not _a bitch, bastard."

"Fucking bitch," Tony nodded and moved back to stand with the shadowy monster, bored with the human already.

The creepy, blue-eyed shadow was no longer standing in front of him. In its place was a tall young man with sky (well, not this sky, this one was a brownish mix of black tinted red) blue eyes rimmed by wire glasses and wheat-blonde hair. One piece stuck out stubbornly from the rest and the man's hands were shoved deep into the pockets of a leather jacket with a slightly fuzzy collar. Lovino frowned. Did he just imagine the monster?

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare ya, dude!" the man (okay, so he looked more like a teen than a man, but let's just go with it) apologized, holding out a hand to help Lovino to his feet. "I'm Alfred and this is Tony!" he motioned toward the alien who was already walking away from them through the dead meadow.

Lovino wrinkled his nose. This place was a creepy piece of shit; everything was brown and dead! Where was he, anyway?

Realizing that Alfred was waiting for him to say something, he quickly introduced himself.

"Lovino? That's a funny name!" Alfred grinned. Reflexively, Lovino punched him in the ribs, only to make a small noise of pain and snatch his hand back. _Damn _that hurt! Were his muscles made of _stone_?

Alfred frowned and rubbed where Lovino hit. "What was that for?"

"You insulted my name!" Lovino growled.

"Chill, dude, I said it was weird, not bad," Alfred shrugged. He looked around the meadow briefly before turning back to Lovino. "We should get out of here before a patrol comes," he started to walk away, motioning for Lovino to follow.

Lovino looked around him and sighed. What other choice did he have but to follow? And, because this is Lovino we're talking about (and he has the same amount of much luck as a broken mirror), his first step sent him straight back to the ground.

Cursing quietly, he pushed Alfred's helping hand away and grabbed for the object that tripped him. He got to his feet and stared at the lily and carnation notebook. He frowned. If this was here, then where was Spain…?

Alfred saw the notebook and started to panic. "Hide that!" he hissed quietly, taking the notebook and pausing only to rip out a clean page before shoving the book under Lovino's shirt. "Don't show that to anyone unless I say so, okay?"

Lovino yelped as the notebook was shoved down his shirt and flinched away as Alfred folded the paper and pushed it into his pants pocket. "W-what the hell?" Lovino yelped.

"This is for your own safety," he blonde tapped the hidden book "And this," he tapped the paper "Is a hopefully unnecessary precaution."

"For _what_?" Lovino asked but Alfred didn't answer, instead grabbing his wrist in an impossibly strong grip and dragging him across the field.

"Now we _really_ have to leave." He mumbled more to himself than to Lovino.

"Why? What the fuck did the notebook do? I want answers, bastard!" Lovino shouted as he tried to pull out of Alfred's hold and horribly failing. He was horribly confused; his old cat had attacked him and he woke up in a dead meadow with an alien and a suspicious teenager! You would be confused, too!

As he continued to rant, Alfred's other hand made itself comfortable over his mouth. "For now, let's just concentrate on being silent and not getting us both killed."

"Killed? By who? Why?" Lovino's questions were muffled by the hand.

"Stay quiet! Arthur will hopefully be able to explain…"

Arthur. Why was that name so familiar? Briefly, two angels - one black and demented and the other… mostly humanoid and blonde and on the pale side - flashed in front of his eyes, disappearing as soon as he blinked.

Lovino prayed to whatever God hadn't abandoned him that Arthur wasn't either of them.

.~.~.~.~.

Spain quickly got to his feet, briefly looking at the unconscious, older Romano before crouching low again to hide from the approaching footfalls. He hated himself for doing this, but he had no choice! He _had_ to help Master or Master's mate would die!

As a shadow-creature and a grey approached Romano, Spain shrank farther away to wait.

Waiting, waiting; he was always waiting.

Always, even as his internal clock ticked on.

Tick tock; tick tock…

Spain snapped out of his thoughts as Romano started to yell. The grey was gone and the nightmare was now a dream and Romano had human emotion-vibes rolling off of him in sheets. He was scared, confused, and angry, trying to pull away from the blonde dream who was leading him away.

Spain followed, staying low to the ground as he approached the angel-shadow's cottage. There was no way that he was letting Romano out of his sight again!  
>.~.~.~.~.<p>

Alfred pulled Lovino up to an old cottage that looked like it was just starting to fall into disrepair. Lovino stared up at it for a moment. Why did he have this strange feeling of déjà vu?

Alfred ran up to the door and shoved his way inside with a loud "Artie, I'm back! And we have company!"

There was a cracking-pop sound from somewhere farther inside the cottage, followed by an accented yell of "I swear, Alfred, If it's another alien or _god forbid_ another whale… and don't call me 'Artie'!"

"Aw, you love it!" Alfred called back with a grin, steering Lovino towards what was probably the kitchen. "Ew, what's that smell?" Alfred groaned and Lovino wrinkled his nose at the scent of bad eggs and old meat. "You're not cooking, are you, Artie?"

Lovino walked through the kitchen entryway and saw a blonde angel turning away from a stove. Lovino stared, blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes and blinked again. There was no way that there was an angel standing in front of him.

The angel's wings drooped a bit as Alfred walked in. his (very large, Lovino noted) eyebrows furrowed and he bit his lip lightly. "You… you don't like my cooking?"

Lovino covered his nose against the unholy stench coming from the stove as Alfred took in the angel's crestfallen look and quickly wrapped him in a hug. "H-hey, I was just joking," he comforted. "I love your cooking!"

He was lying, Lovino could hear it in his voice, but the angel seemed to brighten a bit, at least enough to notice Lovino's presence.

"Who's this?" he asked quietly, moving out of Alfred's arms to move closer and inspect Lovino. Arthur's eyes were thoughtful and confused, as if he knew more about Lovino than the Italian did himself, but his eyes were searching for new information as well.

Lovino swallowed hard, unnerved by the angel's prying eyes. They were familiar but foreign, poison-green and allowing memories – no, dreams, only dreams – to resurface and cloud his already spinning mind almost over the breaking point.

"Said his name is Lovino," Alfred answered when he realized that the Italian was unable to speak.

"Lovino?" Arthur seemed surprised, as if he was _expecting_ an answer he wasn't given. However, instead of explaining his surprise, he extended his hand to Lovino in a friendly shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Arthur said. "I'm Arthur, and you've already met Alfred. Now, Lovino, where are you from? We've never seen you around the village before."

"I-Italy," Lovino choked out, his brain still muddled by the flickering remains of childhood nightmares. He was so distracted that he didn't see how Arthur's eyes kept wandering to his chest, where the notebook was clumsily hidden.

"Where's Italy?" Alfred asked. "I've never heard if it. It sounds fancy."

Lovino frowned. How could he have never heard of Italy?

Arthur was frowning, too, lost in worried thoughts. This boy… man looked just like Ro-… the lost Host. He was even from the same place in reality. Arthur looked the nervous, fidgety, and confused young man over again. This couldn't _possibly_ be _him_, right?

Arthur sighed. Well, there was only one way to find out…

The angel cleared his throat to grab Lovino and Alfred's attention again. "Alfred, love, would you mind telling Lovino a few of the ground rules for staying here? If he has nowhere else to go, he can stay here; but he needs to know how to stay safe."

Alfred groaned. "Can't you teach him? They're _your_ rules!"

The angel glared at his (Lovino guessed) lover. "No, I'm going out to find the trio. I'll be back soon."

"Please be careful," Alfred kissed him briefly. The woods around Arthur's house weren't dangerous, but if the patrols found him…

"I'll be fine," Arthur assured, walking toward the door and allowing his angel form to be replaced by an inky nightmare counterpart, making Lovino gasp quietly and shrink away.

Arthur watched the Italian's reaction. "It seems you'll have a lot of work to do. Best get to it," and with that, the demon-angel left, leaving Lovino alone with Alfred again.

After a few seconds, Alfred cleared his throat. "So… Take a seat?"

.~.~.~.~.

Arthur hurried through the town, walking as calmly as possible past one of Sadik's patrols and made his way to Vash's bar. Only when the door was securely closed behind him did he change back to his dream form.

"Well look what the cat dragged in!" a man seated at a nearby table laughed. "It's the little forest angel!"

"Oh, belt up," Arthur growled, shaking off the offensive cat comment.

"Arthur?" Francis heard the man and slid away from his barstool to grab Arthur. "Mon ami, we haven't seen you in so long! Has Alfred been keeping you too… _busy_ to visit us?"

Arthur tugged his arm away, but he took a seat between the blonde and Antonio, who nodded in greeting. Gilbert sat on the other side of Antonio, forehead on the counter and his grip strong on his fifth beer. "Hush up, Frog." Arthur glared. "I'm not here to listen to your perverted comments," he dropped his voice as Vash walked over to them. Vash ushered a curious Lili away from the counter and looked warily around his bar before nodding slightly, telling Arthur that it was safe for him to continue. If Arthur willingly left the safety of his cottage, then he must have found out important information to help their rebellion.

Arthur took a moment to think about the best way to start. Antonio and Francis watched him with worried curiosity; there was always the chance that this would just be more bad news…

"Well," Arthur started quietly "Today, Alfred brought home a man…"

"Oh, mon cher!" Francis sighed dramatically, throwing 'comforting' arms around the angel. "What a cruel thing for him to do! He is not worthy of your love-!"

"Not like that, you perverted git!" Arthur blushed and shoved Francis off of his barstool and onto the floor. "I mean he found a man wandering around and brought him home!"

"What? Is this man an idiot?" Vash frowned. "It's common knowledge that wandering around with the patrols out is practically suicide!"

"Where did he find him?" Antonio asked, agreeing with Vash. Wandering around was a death sentence if you didn't move fast and just wandered aimlessly.

"He didn't say, but I think it was at the old meadow," Arthur explained. "He and Tony have been visiting it recently because of some of the old stories that Tony dug up about Hosts."

"So you came out here to tell us about a random moron that your lover found in a forbidden area?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow. It all seemed pointless to him.

"No! Well… yes," Arthur hesitated for a minute "No, not exactly. You see… the man had a notebook."

The four men stared at the angel in shock. "Y-you mean… a _Host_ notebook?" Antonio whispered worriedly. It was impossible for a grown man to just _find_ a Host notebook lying around, much less use it correctly so that they found Sogno, and the only way for a child to obtain one was to be given one by a shadow. The only explanation was that this man was an old Host had returned…

Which had never happened and was therefore impossible.

Arthur nodded. "It's a Host notebook. I didn't actually see it, but he was hiding it under his shirt and Alfred was twitchy, so we can assume for now that it is."

"What did this mystery man look like?" Francis asked the question that had been hanging over them, allowing a small ray of hope that a Host was really back, but he quickly squashed the foolish emotion.

"Hazel-gold eyes, olive skin, slightly wavy chocolate brown locks and an antenna-like curl," Arthur described, waiting for the inevitable outburst of disbelief.

Antonio processed the information as quickly as possible. If this man had a Host's notebook _and_ a flyaway curl….

"Romanito!" he gasped, probably a bit too loudly if his friend's flinching and the other customers in the bar's looks meant anything.

Arthur clapped a hand over his mouth "Quiet!" he hissed. "He _might_ be Romano, but he might not. He says his name is Lovino and he's from Italy, in reality. Now, Romano might have _also_ been from Italy, but we never learned his reality-name. For now, until we're one-hundred-percent sure, e is not 'Romanito', he is Lovino. Got it?"

Antonio and the others nodded, but they were only half listening to the angel's instructions, all lost in their own thoughts. Antonio allowed hope to spark and flutter in his ribcage as he thought about his beautiful Italian boy, all grown up and back near him again.

To him, Romano had returned, and he wouldn't let him go again.

.~.~.~.~.

Lovino crossed his arms over his chest and let his eyes drift around the kitchen for what was probably the twentieth time since the freaky angel had left. He had calmed down phenomenally during that time, mostly because there wasn't any demon-bastards or aliens around him and hew as now waiting, bored as hell and at a normal-looking table in a normal-looking kitchen, for Alfred – a not so normal man – to start explaining.

Alfred was busy trying to save the kitchen from whatever it was that his lover had been 'cooking' and Lovino was only briefly amused when it ate the spoon Alfred had been using as a weapon.

Once the nuclear disaster was dealt with, Alfred returned and sat down, watching Lovino as Lovino watched him.

"You gonna try and explain what the hell happened to me or just stare?" Lovino frowned, not enjoying their unintentional staring contest.

Alfred nodded, continuing his silence for another few seconds. "Well, to start, do you know how you got here? And no, I don't mean how you were born and your life history and all that other bull-crap that Gilbert always uses as an answer…"

Gilbert. Somehow, even that name sparked some recognition in the back of his mind, but Lovino shook it away like the rest. "Truthfully, I have no damn clue," he admitted. "I was just following my cat," he didn't see Alfred's twitch "Through this old garden that was on my grandfather's land and I found this," he pulled the lily-and-carnation notebook out from underneath his shirt and let it sit on the table. "I'm going to assume that this book is pretty important, if the whole fact that you made me hide it means anything."

Alfred nodded, taking the book into his hands and flipping through the bloodstained pages. "Truthfully, I've never seen one of these up close," he admitted. "Artie says that I had one at one point, but I don't remember that."

Lovino frowned. "You've never seen a notebook?"

"I've seen notebooks," Alfred clarified, "But this is a… different kind of notebook."

"How so?" Lovino leaned back in his chair expectantly.

Alfred turned to a random page, the bloodiest page with an almost perfect handprint of a small child. Lovino saw the blood and could briefly hear the memory of a child's screams – his own? – and saw glowing emeralds peering out of living, breathing shadows before red – so much red, so much _blood _– clouded his eyes…

Alfred's voice thankfully broke his trance. The blonde tapped the bloody page with a finger and smirked, oblivious to the Italian's momentary absence. "Because this one opens up a passage between this world and your 'Italy' world. It's not a storybook."

Lovino stared at him before laughing in his face. "You're insane!" he sputtered out between laughs.

"Then how would you explain waling up in a dead meadow, seeing an alien and a demon, and them meeting an angel after following your… cat into a garden and finding this?" Alfred raised an eyebrow, a triumphant smirk ghosting his lips.

Lovino stopped laughing abruptly. "…I'm dreaming?" he tried.

"Nope!"

"I hit my head really hard?"

"Maybe when you fell into the meadow, but no."

"Then I must be dead. I got attacked by my childhood pet and died in my garden. This is my own personal corner of Hell."

"That's just cruel, dude. This isn't Hell, no matter how screwed up it might be. And you're not dead. Arthur obviously took an interest in you, and he doesn't pay attention to dead people anymore."

Lovino continued to stare at him, not totally processing the "doesn't pay attention to dead people _anymore_" comment. "…So this is real? I'm not dead or dreaming?"

"Yep, it's one-hundred-percent real!" Alfred grinned. Maybe he was better at explaining than he thought!

"If this is real… then where's my cat?"

"…What?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

So, sorry for a short, probably boring chapter, but I'll hopefully get another chapter up soon (keyword: hopefully)

Review, maybe?

Adios for now~


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**

I thank all of you who are willing to put up with my random updating schedule! ^^ you're all amazing!

* * *

><p>Spain once again padded down the deserted hallways of Sadik's manor in search of his master, or at least another cat to deliver the news for him. He had to return to Romano before he missed something important…<p>

Caught up in his thoughts, the spotted feline tripped over the dozing form of another cat with white fur and strange black markings covering him.

"Eh, Spain?" the sleepy, forest green-eyed tom yawned, looking over at the messenger-cat who was hastily trying to right himself.

"Hola my little Pharaoh." Spain nudged Egypt's ear affectionately, earning a quiet purr from the little nickname. "Would you mind helping me with something?"

Egypt flicked his tongue across Spain's nose and nodded. The poor green-eyed cat was always so overworked; Egypt wouldn't mind taking some of the load off of him.

"I need you to find Master and tell him that the Host had returned," Spain said hurriedly.

Egypt blinked. _'He has?'_ his eyes questioned. Maybe Spain was overworked and tired, hallucinating about the past Host. Hosts never returned… At least, they hadn't before…

Spain nodded, easily understanding the self-chosen-mute cat. "I don't want the masked human to know, though, so only tell Master. If the masked one finds out, we put Romanito in danger, got it?"

Egypt nodded again. _'I understand'_

"Gracias," Spain nuzzled the quiet tom again before bolting away, back to the grown Host (or who Egypt could only assume was the Host grown up)

Egypt stretched and got to his feet, going over the information in his head as he walked. The Host had returned? Didn't he know how _dangerous_ this world was for him now?

Then again, perhaps that was why Spain needed to leave so quickly. Maybe the Host _didn't _know the danger.

Still curious about the Host, Egypt found Heracles sleeping by one of the manor's many fireplaces. The cat stared jealously at his human and his comfortable-looking nap spot before prancing over and jumping on his stomach.

Heracles grunted sleepily and cracked his eyes open at the unexpected weight on his stomach. A lazy smile unfolded on his lips. "Ah, my quiet little friend, are you the one who must give me the latest bad news?"

Egypt nodded, leaning into Master's hand and letting the man scratch his ear; saddened that the brown-haired human assumed all news from them to be bad. "Spain says that the Host has returned," he reported quietly.

Heracles sat up, holding Egypt in his lap. "Is he safe?"

The cat nodded. He must be safe; Spain would never leave him somewhere dangerous just so he could report back.

"Then we'll keep him that way," Heracles decided. The cat-lover saw no point in putting another innocent soul into the hands of the masked bastard of a tyrant he was forced to serve.

"Keep who what way?" asked a human voice from behind them.

Heracles froze before turning to see the masked frown of Sadik. "I don't know what you're talking about," he denied, holding Egypt in his arms as he got to his feet.

"Lies; your pet just told you something," Sadik was unable to understand the cats, but he knew what the exchange between them and their master looked like. The masked man stepped closer; Heracles stepped back. "It told you something that _you_ weren't going to report."

"I don't _need_ to tell you anything, Adnan," Heracles bared his teeth, allowing his nightmare side's fangs to show. (His nightmare side was a cat-like beast. Cats were looked down upon nowadays. It made him sad…)

"Silly boy, you think you have a choice!" Sadik laughed, lunging forward and pressing a knife to the younger man's neck, allowing Egypt to fall to the safety of the floor with an angry hiss. "Have you forgotten that you are _mine_, boy? You work for me; your life and everything you know is _mine_."

"Just kill me," Heracles glared. "You've already taken my heart from me and my life is meaningless without him. I don't want it to be yours anymore."

"Ah, but what will spilling your worthless blood give me?" Sadik smirked. "No, death is too kind for you. I need you and your pets for information."

"You can't make me talk," Heracles spat.

"I can't?" Sadik faked surprise. "Why not? After all, I _do _hold your heart captive." He smirked at Heracles' gasp. "Wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen to him?"

Heracles glared at his masked owner, helpless. He couldn't allow anything to happen to his love! He had to keep alive-!

If he wasn't already dead…

No! Heracles mentally smacked himself. His heart _had_ to be alive! It was that last shred of hope that kept him going.

Heracles sighed, defeated, and sent an apologetic look to Egypt, who looked away sadly. "…The lily-and-carnation Host has returned to Sogno…." He mumbled.

"See, was that so hard?" Sadik grinned. "Now where is he?"

"I don't know-"

"Liar!" Sadik's momentary grin was replaced by a scowl as he pressed the knife closer, causing Heracles to choke. "Tell me or I kill that little wretch of a retired Host you call your heart!"

"I don't know!" Heracles yelled back as loud as the knife would allow, eyes for once awake and sharp, filled with emotion and glittering with the threat of tears. "I don't know anything else, I swear!"

Sadik huffed, pulling away. "If I find that you're lying to me, boy…"

Heracles stepped away, hiding his eyes with his bangs as he responded in a monotone. "I know nothing else, Lord Adnan."

"Thank you, my boy," the vile man smirked and pet his hair once, making him shiver, before leaving him alone again.

Egypt wrapped himself around Master comfortingly as Heracles fell to his knees. He just put his planet's only hope of survival into the hands of the man who wouldn't hesitate to murder it.

.~.~.~.~.

Sadik walked down the stone steps to his manor's basement-turned-dungeon and unlocked the door at the bottom of the stairs to reveal a dimly lit bedroom. A low wooden table sat in one corner, polished top spotless while a pile of scrolls and empty ink wells and pens were scattered around it, spilling ink onto the rug. The walls, and in some places, the ceiling, were covered in perfectly straight columns of symbols – reality symbols, symbols that Sadik couldn't understand – all written in beautifully inked calligraphy. In the farthest corner sat a comfortable looking queen sized bed that would have looked untouched if not for the small body lying on top of the comforter.

The young man's eyes were hidden behind powder-pale eyelids, sunken into a just as pale face. Black hair, shiny and unkempt by lack of washing, hung limply around is head and face and his hands were folded across his chest in some vague semblance of peace, fingertips dyed a probably permanent black from the ink that decorated his room. if not for the steady rise and fall of his chest, someone might have believed that Sadik's porcelain doll to be dead.

Sadik knew better, however.

"Rise and shine, my butterfly," he cooed as the man continued to sleep, undisturbed by his appearance in the doorway.

Slowly, unreadable coffee eyes flickered open to look at the ceiling above him.

"Kiku, my darling butterfly, why do you never greet your master?" Sadik's voice dropped with poisoned honey as he watched his reality-born prisoner slide from the bedspread and kneel before him, painted mask of a face trained on the ground.

The old Host didn't react to Sadik pulling him to his feet or to the fingers caressing his marble-shaded face. His eyes continued to stare straight ahead and he no longer trembled under the vile man's touch. Years ago, he would have reacted, would have fought against the disgusting man's embrace, would have tried to escape through the door left wide open behind him, but not anymore. This shell that remained trapped in this room was no longer the cherry-and-laurel Host, Kiku.

Sadik's fingers traced the smaller man's cheekbones as he murmured in his unresponsive ear "You know, your precious kitten has given me word that the lily-and-carnation Host has returned," no visible response.

"You have proven to be less than useful in helping me gain that power I desire. Perhaps this Host will be a worthier prize?" a blink. Was this registering in his butterfly's mind?

"I will find this Host and replace you. I have no need for two dolls," the threat of his own death yielded no reaction

"And, with the Host under my control, I will no longer need the brat or his felines either. I'll have so much fun exterminating them. After all, they're just disposable pawns," he laughed darkly. Kiku's eyes widened; the best reaction Sadik had gotten in months. "Ah? So you _don't_ want me to kill that shadow of yours? Well you can prevent that, you know. I'm always open for negotiation. All you have to do is tell me how to take the Host's powers from him and give them to me~" all Hosts knew how to give away their powers to another, whether they knew they knew or not, but Kiku had always refused to tell, no matter what the threat.

Kiku seemed to hesitate, but kept his silence. Sadik growled. "Even at the price of your lover's life, you refuse to speak!" he whipped his hand across the smaller man's face, sending him to the ground and opening up a shallow cut across his cheek. "You disgust me," he sneered, pulling Kiku back to his feet and placing his knife at his neck. "If I were to kill you now, the brat would never know. Hell, he's probably given up on you already. But death would be too merciful."

He pushed Kiku away, letting the silent man kneel on the floor again. "I'd rather watch you suffer than see your blood staining my floor."

Only when Sadik's footsteps faded back up the staircase did Kiku allow silent tears to track down his face. He had prayed that he would be the last Host to fall under Sadik's control; that their secrets would die with him. When the young Host had escaped back to reality all those years ago, he was overjoyed and filled with hope that this was all going to end.

But now he was back, and him being here was a threat not just to Heracles and Kiku, but to himself and the rest of the world if he didn't learn of the dangers that he would face.

But Kiku wasn't crying for the safety of himself or his lover or even for the safety of the Host and Sogno.

He was crying for the tiny glimmer of hope that lived because of a Host; that spark that lived for the Host to _beat_ Sadik

He cried that the knowledge that this hope was probably worthless.

.~.~.~.~.

"You heard me, where's my damn cat?" Lovino frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I just told you that you're in a parallel dimension because of a book, and all you care about is your _cat_?"

"…He's a good cat," Lovino defended himself.

Alfred stared at him. Was this guy right in the head? No, probably not. That would explain how he got here in the first place…

The blonde sighed. "I don't know-"

"Meow!"

Both men turned to look at the open kitchen window, where a brown and white spotted, green-eyed cat sat, almost like he was requesting permission to enter the cottage.

"Spain!" Lovino sighed in relief, going over to the window to pick up his cat. Spain purred and cuddled in his arms as Lovino held him close, taking comfort in something familiar in this strange place.

Alfred looked warily at the cross-wearing feline. "Apparently this is your cat?"

Lovino nodded. Spain looked up at Alfred, understanding why the human was weary of him. Cats were taboo; spies for Dictator Adnan. They brought nothing but trouble and the forest angel would pop a blood vessel if he found one in his house...

Spain's eyes shifted up to Lovino's face, taking in his closed eyes and his worried eyebrows, wishing he could do something to comfort him, but this was all unavoidable, really…

The bang of the front door jolted all three of the room's participants. The sound of bickering male voices grew louder as Arthur and three newcomers entered.

Spain panicked at the sight of the one who wore his eyes and wiggled away from a frozen Lovino to take cover under the table.

Lovino didn't notice; too busy staring at the three newcomers, once again flickering in and out of reality and dreamed-up memory.

All three were changing, morphing out of those hideous shadowy-muck forms that made Lovino want to scream, cry, and puke all at once but wouldn't allow himself to do.

The first figure's ears were moving down to their correct places, changing from pointed cat ears back to the rounded ones of a human. Sapphire eyes gained pupils and whites as his skin changed from shadows to light porcelain, chin covered in a barely-there cover of light facial hair. Wavy blonde hair cascaded down to his shoulders and a black cattail disappeared entirely.

Francis smiled at the younger man, but Lovino's eyes were already trained on the second figure, where black flesh gave way to a sickly white. Red sockets changed to red irises above a receding bird's beak, revealing a slightly hooked nose and a feral, crooked grin. Messy black feathers changed into wild platinum hair and a small yellow chick flew down and landed on his head.

Gilbert reached up to grab his chick as Lovino's wide eyes moved onto the third and final figure.

Black flesh faded into a deep tan, muscles remained but now hid behind simple clothes. A tail tipped with a halberd-styled blade dissolved along with large, sharp bull horns. Hoofed legs changed into booted feet and moon pale, Cheshire cat fangs rounded into a gently stunning white smile. Curled chocolate locks appeared and grew untamed across his head and uncut bangs moved to reveal green eyes – _emerald green, deep green, dark leaf green, summer green, Lovino's favorite green. The green held captive by his cat's too-human irises. The green that plagued his nightmares with the memory (because just maybe he was starting to admit that it was true) of pain and tears and betrayal and tearing, bloody claws somuchblood,hisownblood but it was in his dreams as well, softened by a loving smile, a comforting embrace, encouraging words, the beautiful feeling of belonging and being wanted, being loved, being held. It was the green of a friend, a lover, a betrayer, a monster. The green of Anto – _

"N-no!" Lovino stared at the tanned man in horror. "No! Y-you're not real! They told me you weren't real!"

Antonio watched Lovino – Romano, his precious Romanito – fall into hysterics and stepped closer "Romano-"

"No! The younger man screeched. "No! Don't call me that! S-stay away from me!"

Antonio ignored his request, inching forward again in the hope of comforting his long lost love, but only succeeding in scaring him more.

Lovino bolted past him before the green-eyed monster could grab him, ignoring Arthur's panicked calls of warning as he disappeared into the danger-infested woods.

"If a patrol finds him, they'll kill him!" Arthur's words sent Antonio into action and echoed in his head as he chased after the Host. There was no doubt that Romano was beginning to remember everything, and if the patrol realized that the Host was nearby…

Antonio refused to lose his boy again.

Lovino ran, stumbling over rocks and trees and bushes, eyes clouded with tears and head fogged by terror and suppressed memories. He tried desperately to block them out; he didn't want to remember, wanted to just disappear, let _him_ disappear-

The sound of marching feet was lost to his ears, unheard over his inner turmoil. One of Sadik's patrols was coming and Lovino was coming right towards it-

A black shape tackled the reality-born brunette to the ground, covering his mouth to stop him from screaming and curling up around him, hiding him in the underbrush. Lovino struggled desperately, but some part of him couldn't help but feel comforted by the strong arms and the scent of musk and dirt and tomatoes…

Antonio felt Romano slowly relaxing underneath him, his shadow form blending in almost perfectly with the dark brush and his own scent hiding Romano's human smell. Poison-dipped emeralds watched as the patrol approached, lip slightly curled in disgust.

Six tar-like creatures marched through the woods along a tradesman's path, making their way toward the heart of Sogno. They looked like a strange mix between gorillas and giant pit bulls, height reaching up to Antonio's shoulder if not taller. Their bodies were almost blocky with muscles and short back legs, front legs much larger and muscular and their fingers were thick, tipped with dirty, giant claws. Their lower jaws stuck out past their upper lips, mismatched, crooked, and broken teeth fought for space within their cavernous mouths, reaching up toward flared, giant nostrils and tiny, beaded and blind eyes. The patrols relied mainly on their senses of smell and hearing to locate their prey.

The shadow tensed as the lead creature stopped, sniffing the air awfully close to where he and Romano hid. Its muscles twitched before it continued on, confused by the shadow's camouflage.

Only when the last marching echo died down did Antonio move off of Lovino, nightmare form fading away again. He rubbed his eyes tiredly; too many transformations in one day were exhausting.

Lovino had curled up into a ball, sniffing and twitching every so often as Antonio moved away. Wiping tears away, he looked up at the tanned man, watching the last of the shadow disappear and reveal Antonio's humanoid form.

Antonio looked down at the younger man, watching him closely. It didn't look like he was going to run away again…

Slowly, gently, he reached out toward him and pulled him against his chest, heart twisting painfully as he flinched, but smiling as he slowly relaxed against him.

Silent tears tracked down Lovino's face again as his mind began to slow down and accept everything. So, this place was real, his burning lungs and stinging scrapes from the trees proved that he would not be waking up anytime soon. Because this place was real, so were the people, no matter how creepy they could appear. This meant that this place had always been real, making those delusions that doctors had convinced him to be dreams caused by some sort of drug were actually memories (showed how much doctors really knew, hah). He had been here as a child, then. He had been able to control the weather, the colors. He had been able to make objects appear out of thin air and create shields and use spells! Hell, maybe he still _could_!

As he looked up into the comforting green –_ summer green, a happy green_ – eyes of the man holding him close, another memory struck him.

If this was really not a dream, he had fallen in love with this man. To this man, he was-

"Romanito," Antonio breathed, holding the quiet man tight, afraid to close his eyes and wake up in Vash's bar like so many times before.

'Antonio,' the name danced over the hazel-eyed man's lips, but the word spoken aloud was "Lovino."

"Huh?" Antonio frowned, holding Romano at arm's length to look him over.

Lovino's eyes swam with unshed tears. "My name is Lovino. I'm not Romano." Not anymore, at least.

Antonio pulled his boy close again. "As I told you years ago, Romano is not _who_ you are, it is _what_ you are; mi Romanito."

Lovino let out a quiet sob as Antonio pressed a kiss to his hair. Why wasn't he trying to get away? He had accepted that his dreams were memories, so his nightmares (of this man, no less) were real, too. Shouldn't he still be horrified? Shouldn't he be trying to get away from this monster that had hurt him all those years ago, that he still bore both the physical and mental scars from instead of taking comfort in his possessive embrace?

But then again, his brain argued, it wasn't _Antonio_, this tanned, kind man, which he feared. He feared the black, minotaur-like monster that he could become. So why not once again find safety within Antonio's arms?

Lovino moved closer to him, hiding his face in the older man's shoulder. "A-Antonio…" he mumbled, brain finally shutting down after all that had happened to him in such a short time "I'm sorry… For leaving before…"

Antonio felt him become a dead weight and kissed his hair again before picking him up, getting to his feet. "I forgave your years ago, mi amor," he whispered lovingly to his sleeping heart.

The shadow-turned-human began to quickly walk back to the angel-demon's cottage. If Romano had admitted to leaving once, that meant that he remembered everything, including Sogno, including Antonio and their love…

Including being the Host.

At this thought, Antonio picked up his pace. If Lovino remembered being the Host, then he was in more danger than he could possibly imagine.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

...I'm not sure what to think about this chapter at all. Too rushed? Too slow? Too hard to understand?

Leave a review and tell me what you think?

Oh, and did anyone pick up where I threw my favorite crack pairing in~? It's small, but I had to lol

Ciao~!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**

Heyyyy Look at this, another late update from Sword~ ...Yeah nobody should really be surprised by this...

Anyway, life and fate have been jerks lately and I've been sick for the past few weeks but whatev, I finally got a new chapter up! ...Even though I had to cut it shorter than I wanted to but oh well it's something right?

So let's get on with this chapter, ne?

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><p>"<em>Antonio!" a child Romano ran up to the man as he looked up from the fruit vendor's stand. The two were in the market square, collecting ingredients for that night's dinner. <em>

_The sun was shining bright and warm as the crowded market hummed with life. Music, laughter, and the calls of the competing vendors accompanied the smells of sun-warmed produce and freshly cooked breads and sweets. _

_Romano crashed into his much older lover, clutching a beautifully crafted chain in his hand "Antonio, look what the pretty jewelry lady gave me!"_

_Apologizing to the kind fruit vendor the little Host had interrupted, placing his purchased groceries up on the ground and picking his precious boy up. "What did she give you, querido? You didn't steal it, did you~?"_

_Romano puffed his cheeks up in a cute pout. "Nuh-uh, I didn't steal it! Don't assume stupid things like that, bastard! She gave it to me 'cause I was looking at it a lot and stuff," The Italian opened his hand and proudly showed off a silver cross necklace. The sun reflected off the cross's almost mirror-like surface._

_Romano smiled proudly as Antonio took the cross from him and held the chain between his fingers, letting the cross itself dangle and spin in front of his eyes. "Well isn't this pretty," the older man smiled. "I used to have a cross like this." _

_Romano's gaze drifted to Antonio's collar, where the beaded chain of a rosary was barely visible under his shirt. "You did? I've only seen your rosary…"_

_Antonio nodded, handing the cross necklace back to him. "Sí but it was stolen a few years ago."_

"_Well who stole it?" Romano frowned "Go get it back!"_

"_It's more of a 'what' than a 'who', really," Antonio shrugged, putting Romano back on his feet. _

"_Okay, then _what_ stole it?" Romano scowled. Stupid Antonio, being difficult…_

_Antonio smiled at him. His boy was so cute when he pouted like that~ He opened his mouth to answer-_

"God damn that little beast!" An angry male voice shouted, jolting Lovino out of his dreams. Sitting up, he found himself in an unfamiliar (but comfortable) bed in a small, unfamiliar room poorly illuminated by the few beams of light that could make it through the thick curtains lining the single window to his right. Loud bangs and shouts filtered through the closed door directly in front of him.

It took him another second to remember where he was and he hid his face in his hands, muffling a groan. So it _hadn't_ been a dream. He was really back. He was really the H-

A loud yowl snapped him out of his thoughts, dragging his attention to the door again. Deciding that he should probably figure out what was going on; he slid out of bed (finding himself clothed, thankfully) and grabbed one of his shoes off of the ground, holding it in front of him like a weapon.

He quietly pushed the door open and made his way toward the kitchen, where the sound of chaos was coming from, and found what could've been an amusing sight to anyone but a man who had just been scared out of sleep.

The kitchen was a disaster; pots and pans scattered everywhere, dishes, broken, and food splattered over almost every surface. Francis and Gilbert sat with Arthur (who didn't seem as amused by the destruction of his kitchen as the shadows) at the kitchen table, laughing at Antonio, who was scrambling around the room, trying to catch a ball of brown and white yowling fur.

Said ball of fur jumped at Lovino and buried its little nose in his chest, green eyes wide and heart beating rapidly. Lovino wrapped his arms around his cat, smoothing down puffed-up fur.

"Oh, good, you caught it!" Antonio sighed in relief. "Now give it here-"

Spain hissed, scratching at the air in front of Antonio's face.

"I don't think he likes you," was all Lovino could say, fingers running through Spain's fur and lingering on the rusting metal cross, remembering his dream.

"Good, 'cause 'Tonio doesn't like it, either!" Gilbert laughed at the cat and the shadow glaring daggers at each other.

"Why not? Spain's just a damn cat; he hasn't done anything to you," Lovino frowned.

"Cats work for Adnan," Francis said nonchalantly. "People don't trust them. I don't know what cats are like where you come from, but they're all spies for him here."

"And I hate _this_ one in particular," Antonio growled.

"Why, because it stole your eyes?" Arthur grinned as he sat down across from Francis.

Twin sets of green eyes turned to the blonde "And my cross! Sure, the eyes are creepy, but it took my cross!"

"And it's not like Antonio can do much about the eyes," Francis mused. "The cat's his double; they need to have _some_ feature in common."  
>Not even bothering to ask about how Spain could be Antonio's 'double', Lovino interrupted the discussion with a new question "Who's Adnan?"<p>

The others looked at him briefly before looking at each other. Should they tell him? He would probably find out eventually. If they didn't tell him, he would learn from someone else anyway…

"Sadik Adnan," Antonio started, forgetting all about Spain "Is a horrible, cruel, _evil _man."

"He took control of Sogno after y-… After the Ho-… Many, many years ago and has ruled ever since," Gilbert took over, rolling his eyes and kicking both of his feet onto the kitchen table. "He has pretty much enslaved everyone and is constantly seeking more power."

"Wait, you almost said something…" Lovino gave Gilbert an accusing look. "After I what? The… something starting with an 'h'…" Something started clicking in his mind. "You were going to say when I left. You almost called me the H-"

Arthur's hand clapped over his mouth. "Do not say it aloud unless you know what power you will unleash," he warned "Now is _not_ a good time."

Lovino nodded and Arthur let him go. Antonio stopped glaring at him for touching _his_ boy and stepped closer to Romanito. Spain's eye twitched unhappily at his movement.

"Eventually he will have to learn," Francis warned. "Isn't it safer if he learns sooner rather than later?"

"Arthur sighed. "Tea. Before I explain anything to this boy _again_ I need tea."

At his command, the tea pot started to whistle and tipped over to fill a cup. The cup floated over to the angel. "Thank you," said to it and the teapot whistled again in acknowledgement.

"Now," Arthur, continued, motioning for Lovino to stop staring at the teapot like it was going to explode and to join him and the other three at the kitchen table. "Now, let's see if I can explain this again…" Arthur thought for a minute. "Well, I'm going to put my faith in the fact that you know the word starting with an 'h' – and _don't say it_!" he hissed quickly as Lovino started to open his mouth. "Don't say it; we're all going to assume that it's the correct word. Now, do you know what this word means; why it holds so much power here?"

Lovino tried to figure it out on his own, trying to pull up the memories of his childhood. Vaguely, the image of luscious turquoise grass dotted with large, vibrant flowers and fields of beautifully ripened fruits and vegetables filled his vision. Large darker turquoise leaves sprang from a forest of trees covered in light purple bark and a light green (almost mint) sky was home to the occasional cotton-white cloud. Tomato plants sprang from wildflower fields and objects flew and materialized from the air at his beck and call. Icy shields formed in front of him as easily as a flaming sword could fight for him. The sun was warm and the whole atmosphere was peaceful and inviting; so different from the sepia and scarlet tinted world he was in now. "I… Or whoever is… _that_ can control everything," Lovino said, voice barely a murmured whisper. "They can summon anything, control the weather and the earth and air and perform powerful spells," In the back of his mind, it worried the Italian that he knew all of this, but he allowed his mouth to continue spilling newly unlocked information. "This place – Sogno – is theirs; in their mind, created by them for them and nothing can stop them from doing what they please to its land and people as long as they have their power. But… but they can get rid of it," The others at the table tensed. "They can give their power away to one person if- Mph!" Lovino struggled as a hand was once again clapped over his mouth. Really, it was getting old fast… "That's enough," Antonio smiled. Lovino bit his hand. "You remember so much Romanito; it's amazing!"

"Did you really expect him to forget?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow at his tanned friend. "He is – was – Romano; Lily and Carnation. As much as you un-awesome people enjoy jumping over it, we all know what he's destined to do."

"_I _don't," Lovino frowned and Spain's ears perked up with interest as he dared to poke his head above the table from his perch on Lovino's lap to look at the albino.

Antonio just patted the hazel-eyed man's head. "You'll figure it out on your own when you're supposed to," he assured. Lovino just glared at him "or you can spare me some confusion and tell me now."

"Not an option," Francis purred. "A Host must figure out his path on his own-" He cut himself off just as the other three Sogno residents started to scream at him for saying the _one damn word _that they had been trying so hard not to say.

_Host_… The word spun around Lovino's head and he couldn't help but smile to himself as he felt his body becoming pleasantly warmer. Tickling electricity sparked from his chest and down his arms and legs and power seemed to fill him with in an alarming rush and it all felt amazing! It felt like nothing could hurt him, nothing could touch him-

"Oh shit, the kid's on fire!" Gilbert's voice broke through his haze of warmth and power, forcing his eyes to snap open even though he didn't remember closing them-

Spain had jumped from his lap onto the kitchen table and was hissing at him fearfully, human eyes darting back and forth between Lovino and the older men frantically, wondering why the hell they weren't helping him.

Francis and Gilbert looked slightly alarmed while Antonio and Arthur's eyes shared an almost proud gleam but they were all staring at him…

Lovino looked down at his arms and screamed. Gilbert hadn't been kidding; he was really on fucking fire!

He screamed again and tried to shake the flames away, heart pounding in his ears as the flames grew larger and pulsed along with his heartbeat, making him panic even more.

"Lovino! Lovino, calm down!" bright green eyes caught his terrified hazel gaze and held it, forcing his breath to catch and the flames to flutter with his heart. "Lovi, stop panicking; you're only going to make them worse," Antonio shushed his screams, somehow staying totally calm as his hands hovered over Lovino's burning thigh and forearm. "See, they're not burning you…" But they could burn Antonio if he tried to touch his boy… "They're not real unless you think they are…"

Lovino stopped flailing and broke eye contact with the shadow to look down at his arms again in wonder. Antonio was right. Even though he could feel the heat of the flames, it was dulled and almost comforting, not roasting him alive like they should have been.

"Buen chico," Antonio smiled as Lovino slowly relaxed. "Now try and make them disappear,"

Lovino tensed slightly. Could he _do_ that?

Antonio saw him tense and spoke again "You made them appear, so you can make them go away. Just…" he looked over to Arthur, at a loss for directions. He was a shadow, not a mage.

Arthur stepped closer and took Antonio's place, kneeling down in front of the flaming Host. "Just picture the flames gone," he said simply. "Close your eyes and imagine that you can't feel the heat. There's no fire, got it?"

Lovino nodded and closed his eyes, trying to obey. He pictured ice water being dumped over his head and-

And immediately felt wet and freezing cold. Shivering, he opened his eyes again and looked down at his drenched clothes "…The fuck?" He frowned. How did that happen?

Arthur and the others were staring at him with a mixture of surprise and pride "See? Bit too hard," Arthur nodded. "You mastered harder magic than that he first time you were here, this is merely a dangerous parlor trick."  
>"But I don't remember any of them," Lovino frowned.<br>"You will," Francis assured, pushing a breakfast plate and some tea in front of him. "Once you learn magic, you never forget it, no matter what," Arthur nodded, confirming Francis.

"You'll just have to unlock it again," Gilbert said. "And we all know you will. After all, you're gonna be the one to – mmh!" The albino was shushed again as a piece of toast was shoved into his mouth courtesy of Antonio.

"We're not supposed to tell him!" The tanned man scolded. "If he doesn't figure it out on his own, there will be a different outcome!"

Lovino growled at them around a mouthful of breakfast. "Will you quit doing that? Let the bastard speak, I wanna know what the hell I'm supposed to do here!"

Antonio shook his head sadly and wrapped his arms around the little Italian, making him blush and struggle. "We can't tell you or else we'll mess up fate! And we need this to happen, so I'm going to continue shutting Gil up."

Lovino huffed and turned to Arthur "Can you guys at least help me then? I'm not going to do shit if I just sit here in this cabin forever."

"Of course we will," Arthur frowned "It would be stupid to just let you run around Sogno unsupervised anyway," Ignoring Lovino's indignant shout of "I'm not a fucking kid! I don't need supervision!" he looked at Antonio. "If I'm going to have to refresh his memory of magic, I need my cottage to be silent, at least until I have everything prepared. Take the boy into town for a bit, reintroduce him to Vash and Lili or something, just leave me be for a bit. I'll come and retrieve him when I'm ready."

"Way to kick us out," Gilbert muttered but he got up from the table, mumbling about little yellow birds.

"Come on, Lovi!" Antonio smiled brightly and pulled him from the table. "Go grab your shoes, I'll let you borrow a cloak, ok?"

"Don't call me Lovi, Tomato-Bastard!" Lovino growled, surprised by how natural the insult felt on his tongue.

"You remembered the nickname you gave me~!" Antonio giggled happily. Lovino threw a shoe at his face. "It was an insult! Not a _nickname_, stupid bastard!"

Eventually Arthur got the four out of his cottage "And take your bloody beast with you, too!" He yelled as he chased Spain out of the kitchen. Spain hissed indignantly before Lovino picked him up and hid him in a small canvas bag (That he had stolen from Antonio) along with the notebook.

The Italian sighed before following the obnoxious trio down the path. The woods seemed safe, but why couldn't he shake off the overpowering feeling of doom…

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><p><strong>AN: **So short chapter but hey it's an update, thank you all of you wonderful readers that are willing to put up with me~!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **

To anyone still following this story, you are seriously amazing for putting up with my haphazard updating schedule TwT I don't deserve you

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><p>"God-damn it, Antonio, let go of me!" Lovino ripped his wrist out of the clingy man's tanned fingers. "I can walk perfectly fine without you fucking holding onto me-!" the poor Italian had turned to look at Antonio and ended up tripping over a rock.<p>

Luckily for him, Antonio grabbed his upper arm and pulled him up before he could crash into the ground and, much to Lovino's horror, he laughed warmly "Are you sure about that chico~? Maybe I should carry you to the village."

Lovino had a brief memory of seeing an oddly colored world from atop Antonio's shoulders before quickly righting himself, scowling at Antonio as he fixed the backpack strap on his shoulder. Spain's head poked out curiously as he mumbled "Bastard, I said I can walk on my own…"

Antonio just chuckled and continued down the path as they reached the village. Lovino hesitated at the edge of the forest, slightly startled by the sight of Sogno.

The beauty that the village once held was gone, replaced by a horrid view of repulsive, dying memories. Buildings had begun to crumble and mold, a few already collapsed and left to rot in their foundations. Trash and debris littered the grimy cobblestone streets and few beings hurried through the murky, sepia, midday light and those that did mainly chose to scurry through the shadows, their nightmare forms flickering with their heartbeats. Lovino watched them with a mix of curiosity and fear as he rushed to catch up with the trio, who had disappeared into one of the larger, better kept buildings.

The heavy doors creaked open under Gilbert's eager hands and revealed a small tavern. To Lovino's left was a large fireplace, providing warmth to the whole large room and helping light where the grimy windows and the scattered candles could not. Wooden benches, chairs, and both large and small tables sat scattered tastefully around the room and a few customers (probably no more than 20) sat at the or at the long bar directly in front of the main door. To the right and next to the bar was a curtained off staircase, probably leading to the tavern owner's quarters. More tables and chairs sat to the right side, but where the fireplace sat on the other side was a beautiful grand piano, dusty and probably untouched and a lot like the one back at the Vargas Manor…

A gunshot jerked his gaze away from the piano and he whipped around to look over at the bar where Gilbert and a few other customers crouched hidden under the bar."Gilbert, get your ass away from my bar and put the alcohol back!" A man with chin length blonde hair and dark forest green eyes had a smoking rifle pointed over the bar, but nobody but Lovino seemed to be worried.

"Jeez, Vash, you think so low of me!" Gilbert whined but at the sound of Vash reloading his gun, the albino quickly replaced the two stolen beers onto the bookshelf and scurried over to casually use Francis as a meat shield.

Still glaring daggers at the albino shadow, Vash placed the still armed rifle against the wall behind the bar. "So is this the boy that Al found in the field?" He asked, nodding toward Lovino as the four sat down at the bar.

Alfred, who had been talking to a little girl with hair just like Vash's, laughed and walked over to them, taking an open stool on the other side of Lovino and threw an arm around his shoulders, earning growls from Antonio and Spain (who was still safely hidden in the canvas bag) "This is Lovino!" the blue eyed youth introduced a startled Lovino "And this is Vash," he pointed at the grumpy barman. "He and Lili," he gestured to the little girl waiting on tables "They own the bar here!" The trio and I work here too-!"

"You won't for much longer if you don't get your ass back in the kitchen!" Vash threatened the younger blonde. "You should be honored that Lili allows you near the stove at _all_, now get back to work."

Alfred stood up and saluted "Aye, aye, boss man!" he grinned and disappeared through a side door leading to the kitchen.

Vash sighed. "The boy has no brains but he follows Lili's every order…" He tiredly tried to defend the reasoning for hiring the hyper blonde to himself. "Anyway, so this is… Lovino?" he looked the scowling man over and Lovino suppressed a shiver with a sigh, unfortunately getting used to being analyzed. "You know he _does_ look a bit like-"

"Romano?" A quiet, female voice asked from behind them, making 'Romano' whip around to see the little girl with Vash's hair.

Lili played nervously with her purple ribbon, looking not even a day older than the first time Lovino was in Sogno. _Then again_, Lovino thought, _it doesn't seem like _anyone_ aged at all… except for me..._

"Romano?" The girl asked again, nervous. "Is that really you?"

Lovino felt trapped. _No,_ technically he _wasn't_ Romano anymore but _yes_ he was the boy that she had known _as_ Romano…

Slowly, he nodded. "Call me Lovino," he requested and Lili smiled.

"I _knew_ it was you!" she threw her arms around him in a hug before her brother let out a strangled cough and he quickly released him. "Do you remember me?" She asked "You used to teach me how to play," She pointed at the dusty piano "It doesn't sing anymore," she said sadly "Not since you left."

Lovino looked over at the piano, memories beginning to trickle back into his head. "I… I remember," he mumbled quietly, making her smile wider.

"Will you make it sing again?" Lili begged quietly and Lovino nodded slowly and allowed her to take his hand and lead him to the piano, almost as if he was in a trance. He sat down on the wooden bench next to her, ignoring Antonio, Francis, Gilbert, and Vash as they watched the two with a curious mix of worry and anticipation.

Lovino's hands ghosted over the dusty keys, almost afraid to touch the ivory. He looked over at Lili, who smiled innocently and gave him a softly pleading look and nodded at the piano in front of them.

Lovino sighed and steeled himself for… Something. He wasn't sure why he was hesitating…

He sighed again and reached out towards the keys, forcing his fingers down to begin his hauntingly familiar melody…

.~.~.~.~.

As the first note sounded from the ancient piano, the earth quivered. Not very strong, after all it had been sleeping for so long, but enough to make the floorboards vibrate, the alcohol in tremble in their bottles, the wind yawn once and make the hibernating trees stretch and groan.  
>All of this was barely noticed by the Sogno natives, as they were too busy with the faint feeling of electricity running through their bones as they too seemed to come back to life. As Lovino's haunting melody began, even in the farthest recesses of Sogno, the earth and it's creatures's hearts soared.<br>_The dream accepts its Host. Let the land rejoice_

_The Lily-and-Carnation Host had returned. Long live hope.  
>.~.~.~.~.~.<em>

Sadik gasped and grabbed at his chest in pain as the earth vibrated underneath his feet. He could feel his hold on Sogno slip for a moment as a small whispered hope spoke at the back of his mind  
><em>The dream accepts its Host. Let the land rejoice<em>  
>Sadik scowled and shook the hope away "Heracles!" he shouted. "Heracles, where are you, boy?"<br>Heracles fought down the momentary rush of hope from the whisper's words as he stepped into the chamber, Egypt at his heels "Yes, Lord Adnan?"  
>"Alert a patrol, alert all of the patrols, of the Host's new acceptance, not that they wouldn't already have felt it like I know you did," he ordered and began to pace the room, slowly forming a new plan "Trace the tremors back to their source and they'll find the Host. Whoever he is with was foolish to allow him to release his powers without a barrier. Send them all after the source except for one; send it to the forests to relocate the Host's scent and find out who knew he had returned and who dared to betray me by not reporting him. We'll take down the resistance and get our Host with one blow." he turned to Heracles. "Understand, boy?"<br>"Yes, Lord Adnan," Heracles nodded and answered in a monotone.  
>"Then why are you still here?" Sadik growled. "Go!"<br>As Heracles left, Sadik turned to the grand window and stared out over the expanse of Sogno's vast forests, eyes resting on the clearing in the distance: Sogno's heart.  
>"You can't hide forever, Host..." he spoke softly, letting his words drift over the air.<br>_You can't hide forever..._  
>.~.~.~.~.~.<p>

The candles in the cottage flickered before going out, blown away by the ground's gentle shaking and the newfound wind as the little forest angel looked up from his task of finding the old spells that the Host had to learn.  
><em>The dream accepts its Host. Let the land rejoice<em>  
>The whisper made Arthur gasp. What had they done! Lovino was in even more danger now with Sogno accepting him again. How had he released the rest of his power? He was in the heart of Sogno, exposed to Adnan's wrath-<br>Arthur growled at the back of his throat as someone knocked at the front door of his cottage "I thought I could trust you four!" he reprimanded the trio and Lovino as he got up to open the charmed door. " You three were supposed to keep Lovino safe and stay low, /not/ give away the return of the Host-!"  
>The feel of hot, rancid breath and a deep, mucus-wet chuckle on his face stopped his rant. Arthur had opened the door and come face to face with a patrol.<br>"Hello, forest angel," the lead rasped in a throaty, toad-like voice as Arthur gasped in fear and attempted to close the door against the sickening creatures. "It's about time we found you."  
>.~.~.~.~.~.<p>

Lovino felt a harsh zap as his fingers began to play a hauntingly sad but hopeful melody; the same melody that he taught Lili years ago, the same one that he had played before finding Spain at the window. He fought the urge to yank his hands away and allowed the new power to wash over him and his blood to rush in his ears as an image of a young man with deep brown eyes and straight black hair whispered over the roaring of his pulse and the steady hum of the piano. _Welcome back, Lily-and-Carnation_ the man hummed as Lovino stared. _It's about time you came back to_ _us_ the man smiles sadly and faded away as Lovino gasped painfully, finally able to fall away from the piano and let the song resonate and stop.  
>Feeling weak, he let his body slip away as someone gasped his name and caught him, sliding him into their lap. The smell of dirt, warmth, and tomatoes...<br>"Antonio..." Lovino mumbled and curled into his lover as the man wrapped his arms tighter around him. "What was that...?"  
>Antonio kissed his hair and helped him begin to sit up, trying to ignore the fading angelic glow of power around his lover. "The dream has accepted you as its Host again, Roma," Antonio explained.<br>So that explained the second power rush in one day... Lovino groaned and sat straight, looking at the awestruck faces of the people in the bar.  
>"So he <em>is <em>Romano," Vash nodded, staring at him. Lili moved closer, smiling widely "Welcome back, Lovino," she whispered as Alfred slipped out of the kitchen and gave him a thumbs up and a smile. Spain peeked out of the canvas bag next to Gilbert, who nodded to him and grinned before following Francis's respectful gesture and kneeling, crossing an arm over his chest.  
>Slowly, the others on the bar followed their example as Lovino stared. "The land accepts you, as does its people," Francis smiled proudly. "Welcome back to your people, Host Lovino Romano, Lily-and-Carnation."<br>Antonio pressed a proud smile to the back of his neck and Lovino continued to stare at the bowing people, awestruck "...D-don't bow," he finally spoke, quietly. "There's no need for that..."  
>"But you are the Host," a man said, looking up at him "You are the true ruler of Sogno."<br>"I don't rule Sogno," Lovino said simply. "I'm not a king. I have no experience with ruling anything."  
>"But you can't deny being the Host," another man, much older than the first, said. "We all felt it."<br>"Then I am the Host, but I can't rule," Lovino glared. "Doesn't Sogno already have a ruler-?"  
>"Adnan is a tyrant, not a king," Alfred spat. "He is not meant to rule. The earth did not accept him and turned it into a nightmare's wasteland."<br>"But he is still king," Lovino crossed his arms. "I can't rule of there's a king, tyrant or not."  
>"Then we'll just have to get rid of him," Gilbert smirked, catching on to what Lovino was saying.<br>"The Host _must_ rule," Vash agreed, looking at the others.  
>"And we fight for our Host," Antonio hugged him close and murmured in his ear. "Not Adnan."<br>"And with the power of the Lily-and-Carnation Host, we can not lose," Francis nodded.  
>"There, understand now?" Lovino nodded once "I can't rule, not yet. But there's no damn way I'm going to let this Adnan-bastard stay on my throne."<br>"Long live the Host!" a man stood and shouted, earning a chorus of cheers.  
>"Long live Sogno!" the Host called over the rising cheers.<br>"Long live hope-!" the crash of the bar's front door slamming open and against the wall cut off the next cheer as the resistance turned to the newcomer at the door.  
>Dressed in tattered clothing sticking to fresh, bleeding gashes and bites was Arthur, leaning heavily against the door as he hastily slammed it behind him. He tried to wipe some of the blood and sweat off of his face, only succeeding in smearing scarlet over his features and his stinging wounds. His wings were lopsided; one folded across his back, feathers ruffled and speckled with pink and red while the other was crooked and limp, twitching and jerking slightly every so often and oozing bright crimson from the jagged rip down the junction of his back and the wing.<br>Alfred hurried forward to carefully grab his panicked, wounded lover as the angel began to topple over in exhaustion, forcing his voice to rasp shakily "The patrols! Th-they know!" He groaned. "The cottage – Lovino!" Arthur tried to push himself out of Alfred's arms as his eyes frantically searched the bar until the landed on Lovino "Run!"

And with that one word, all hell broke loose.

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><p><strong>AN:**

Not where I was originally gonna end this chapter, but I think it's the best place to stop for now~

I've been having a few problems with the plot lately but hopefully I'll get everything worked out and back on track so that I don't go another... three months without updating XD

Until then, Adios my wonderful amazing readers~!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **  
>Hey, I'm not dead .w." Sorry for not updating in so long. I've had this chapter written up since I uploaded the last one but I've never gotten a chance to just sit down and edittype it up until now. Terribly sorry for that...

So anyway... I have nothing more to say than sorry and if anyone is still reading this, you're amazing 3

On with the story!

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><p>There were very few things that Spain desired in his relatively short feline life.<p>

One was sunshine. Warm, summer sunshine. Oh, how he missed the blissful heat of Sogno's summer sun.

Another thing was fresh, clean air: another blessing that had disappeared at the birth of Sadik's reign.

The last thing he wanted was peace and quiet. Somewhere silent where he could just sleep the day away. Preferably somewhere with warm sunlight. And fresh air.

But here, shoved roughly in a dark, scratchy, suffocating canvas bag with a notebook digging into his tiny spine, he possessed none of the things he desired.

Human screams rang and echoed in his ears, barely muffled by the cloth prison the Host had shoved him in. His brain rattled as he was thrown about with every step the Host took as he ran. The human stopped every few seconds (sending Spain directly into the corner of the damned notebook) before his body was jerked forward by some other force that Spain couldn't identify with the lacking senses the bag caused.

The panicked murmur of the green-eyed shadow's voice filtered through the cloth and screams, speaking to the host, but Spain couldn't make sense of anything; brain too jumbled to decode anything of the human language. "You have to go back to town. If the patrol catches up to us-" That was the Host. Spain could tell that much.

"I'm not going to abandon you in the middle of the forest with those… those _things_ chasing us!" The shadow's voice cut him off as he tugged Lovino close, causing the Spain to be crushed between the notebook and Antonio's chest. "I can't lose you! Not again…" the shadow murmured in depressed panic.

"Moron, you're not going to lose me…" The Host muttered back, affection hidden under a thick layer of false annoyance and true fear. "You said it yourself; I have to figure out my path on my own," the Host paused and shifted, spinning a 180 to look at the shadow. "The town needs you. I need to go alone for now, but no way in hell are you going to lose me, got it bastard? I'll find you again whether you want me to or not!"

The shadow chuckled sadly; regretfully. "Just be careful okay? Stay hidden and _do not_ fight the Patrols. Just keep running."  
>The Host nodded but didn't speak, throwing his arms around the shadow in a quick, tight hug, murmuring weakly in his ear "You be careful too… Bastard…"<p>

The shadow chuckled and he murmured warmly, pulling away just far enough to look into Lovino's eyes, leaning close. "Nothing, not even death will keep me away from you for long, mi amor. I will find you again… I always will…" his lips hovered teasingly over the Host's…

A loud shout and an even louder howl jolted the lovers out of their peaceful trance and, with a few quick words, Antonio turned to face the oncoming threat as Spain was once again jostled uncomfortably as the Host took off away from his shadow.

As the notebook smacked him again, Spain bit back a yowl. There wasn't any point in distracting the Host from his uncharted path.

.~.~.~.~.

Lovino stumbled through the underbrush with animal screeches and shouts ringing and fading in his ears and tears trying to blind him and slow him down. The Italian would have none of it; desperately rubbing the useless water away from his eyes to clear them.

Ducking behind a rock ledge in he side of a hill, he crouched to catch his breath, muffling a yelp behind his hand as Spain wiggled at his back in a silent plea to be released from his cloth cage. Carefully, quietly, Lovino let him slide out and quiver near his feet as he waited for the aching in his lungs and legs to fade enough so he could run again-

The rocks he hid behind shattered and sent both him and Spain flying into the underbrush. Spain hopped to his feet as Lovino struggled to stand, holding Antonio's hunting knife defensively out in front of him.

The Patrol-creatures appeared over the remains of the rocks, broken teeth shining within amused, feral smiles.

"Is this really the Host?" one croaked out in mucus-soaked laughter. "He's so small! This little meat sack isn't a threat at all!"

The other two laughed loudly and a bloody mucus-and-saliva mixture dripped from the cracks between their stained teeth.

"Fuck off!" Lovino yelled, forcing his legs and voice not to quake with fear. There was three of them – viscous, animalistic hunters – and only one of him. Just Lovino; who had never fought a day in his life. He was going to die and there was nothing he could do to prevent his fate.

His grip on the knife tightened and the little of bravery (or was it stupidity?) that had hidden itself away somewhere inside him spoke up from its' hiding place in the back of his mind. He was no use to Sogno dead. Whether he knew how or not, he was going to have to fight-

One of the Patrols leaped at him suddenly, pulling him out of his thoughts. As he stared death in the face, Spain headbutted the back of his knee; causing him to collapse on himself and the Patrol to fly over him. _Focus, Lovino, focus!_

Getting to his feet again, he slashed at the second Patrol, luckily catching it across the jaw and tearing through muscle and earning him a howl of pain and rage. The creature struck him in the hip with a clawed paw, sending him onto the, now slippery and crimson, rocks for the third time.

Rolling away from another swipe, Lovino plunged the knife into the Patrol's foreleg, quickly ripping it out of the torn flesh to take a stab at the screaming Patrol's eye. The knife found a new home between the blind blue eyes; luckily just as effective as Lovino had hoped it would be. The dead Patrol crumbled inward, almost falling on top of Lovino and splattering him with blood.

The Host barely had time to catch his breath before a new set of claws smacked him in the back, accompanied by a screeched cry of anguish at its partner's death. Lovino tumbled farther down the rocky hill, losing Antonio's knife somewhere along the way.

The Patrol was on him before he had a chance to search for it; its jacked teeth catching his leg as he rolled away. He let out a scream as he felt flesh tear and bone shatter under its teeth and fought not to look down at his chin or throw up, clawing forward with his hands as the Patrol tried to bite him again.

The Patrol screeched something he couldn't understand before jumping at him again. What could he do but throw his arms up in the useless motion of defense? He was weaponless, wounded, exhausted; hopeless! So he threw his arms up and shut his eyes, ready to die-

There was a flash of bright blue light on the other side of Lovino's closed eyelids, accompanied by a yelp of surprise from the Patrol. Lovino opened his eyes slowly and squinted into the bright, ice-blue light of a large, rectangular shield.

Lovino's jaw went slack and he sat up slowly, the shield moving with him and keeping a fragile barrier between him and the patrol. The bright light sparked a flashback of him controlling a much thicker, less transparent, and definitely more durable shield and distracted him from the threat of the Patrol as it jumped at him, shattering the shield but leaving Lovino unharmed.

The Host scrambled to his feet and ducked behind a tree to dodge the Patrol's next attack. Closing his eyes, he willed some memory, any memory, to give him some sort of recollection of how to fight-!

Lovino's body began to move on its own, pulling him onto his good leg and into hauntingly familiar steps and motions as his eyes slid open to see warm, orange sparks begin to form between his hands which he held out in front of him as if he knew what he was doing.

Forcing himself to stay cam, he grabbed at the faming sword hilt as it materialized in front of him. As the sword formed, time seemed to speed up again and the Patrol resumed its attack. The sword seemed to know what to do even though the Host didn't; swinging itself up to block the Patrol's claws. It swung back, forcing Lovino to duck and step away from the Patrol before pulling Lovino forward so that it could take a stab toward the Patrol's chest.

The flaming blade sliced across the Patrol's shoulder, drawing dirty red blood and a surprised howl from the ugly creature. The thing seemed to freeze for a moment before a horrified, anguished scream erupted from its jaw as the shallow cut the sword left suddenly burst into flames and began to eat away at the dirty flesh. The animal wailed in terror as the fire engulfed it and burned it to death.

The shrieks must have alerted a larger pack of Patrols because before Lovino could turn and see the third Patrol; at least twenty more erupted from the trees at the top of the rocky hill.

Willing the sword to fight, Lovino was able to fight at least a few of them off and keep the rest a bay, but they just kept coming!

The Host was eventually knocked onto his back and his broken leg gave out below him, the link between him and the sword shattered and the blade fizzed and disappeared even as he rolled onto his stomach and grabbed for it.

A Patrol's claws lashed out at him and he raised his arms again to try and create another shield. The dirty-razor claws slashed through old scars and pulled a scream from his lungs as the bloody flesh of his arms allowed another memory of a different shadowy creature's blind rage to resurface.

Lovino weakly tried to curl up into a more defensive position as the Patrol continued to attack him, pleading for someone to make their tearing claws and teeth stop-

"Enough!" An unfamiliar male voice shouted from somewhere behind the group of Patrols.

The bulldog-gorilla creatures stopped their attack as soft footsteps made their way through the crowd and closer to Lovino. The Host weakly lifted his head to stare blearily into the white-masked face of Sadik Adnan. In a small sign of defiance, Lovino bared his teeth and spit at him. The bloody saliva splattered over Sadik's boots and dribbled down the Host's chin as he attempted to shuffle away from the dictator.

His pathetic retreat was stopped by Sadik's boot pressing him into the ground. He smirked down at the scowling Host. "Hello, Romano," he chuckled. "I think it's about time we met face-to-face, don't you?"

.~.~.~.~.

The Patrols in Sogno had begun to recede after word had passed between them of the Host now under Sadik's control. Soon only their corpses and the destruction they dealt on the city and its people was all that was left to show of their presence.

Amidst the mourning townsfolk, Arthur sat on the remains of a house's foundation as Alfred quietly, gently, tended to his ripped wing and other wounds. The young man's own bloody scalp an shoulder remained untouched in favor of his angelic lover, much to said lover's distress.

As the two spoke wordlessly, Gilbert, carrying an unmoving, broken-limbed Vash, walked through the debris toward them with Francis and an emotionless Lili close behind.

"Did you find them?" Arthur's anxious question hung heavy and unanswered in the air as the four tended to the wounded. Vash was carefully placed within the fallen house; there would be time for proper rituals after the living were safe.

Eventually a set of hurried footsteps could be heard thundering toward them and they turned to see Antonio's shadow form running over to him, the look of worry on his usually smiling face becoming stronger as he became more and more human.

"Antonio!" Francis caught his friend's anxious gaze. "Where's Lovino?"

"He… He hasn't come back this way?" Antonio panted worriedly, looking between the six. "He's not here? We split up; I thought that he would circle around and come back-"

"You split up!" Arthur gaped. "Are you completely idiotic? How the _hell_ could you have _ever_ believed that you should _split up_?"

"He said it was fine! He told me to leave! I… I couldn't disobey my heart…" Antonio trailed off in despair. How could he be so stupid? He had just left his love alone in dangerous woods with only a tiny knife to defend himself. He _knew _there was Patrols in the forest behind them and he _still_ abandoned his heart… Their Host…

Antonio fell to his knees and held in bitter tears. There was nothing to gain from his personal sorrow.

He had just lost his heart again and with it, the only hope for his world.


End file.
